Man Arrested For Flying Helicopter Drunk
By: Dylan Brooks
Updated: January 31, 2011
OZONA -- A Colorado City man's drunken joyride has landed him behind bars, and put a West Texas city in danger. Only, this man wasn't driving a car or truck.
Richard Zane Whitesides, 21, was arrested Saturday afternoon in Ozona for flying a helicopter while intoxicated. According to D.P.S., a Robinson R-22 helicopter was spotted flying low over Ozona and hovering over Interstate 10 that afternoon.
The helicopter landed in an open field, and Whitesides and another man got out and went to a backyard cookout, which they were apparently not invited to. Crockett County Sheriff's deputies arrived on the scene and found out that both men were drunk. Deputies arrested both men.
When deputies searched the helicopter, they found opened beer cans and firearms in the cockpit.
Now, Whitesides is charged with flying while intoxicated and unlawful carrying of a weapon.
Richard Zane Whitesides, 21, was arrested Saturday afternoon in Ozona for flying a helicopter while intoxicated. According to D.P.S., a Robinson R-22 helicopter was spotted flying low over Ozona and hovering over Interstate 10 that afternoon.
The helicopter landed in an open field, and Whitesides and another man got out and went to a backyard cookout, which they were apparently not invited to. Crockett County Sheriff's deputies arrived on the scene and found out that both men were drunk. Deputies arrested both men.
When deputies searched the helicopter, they found opened beer cans and firearms in the cockpit.
Now, Whitesides is charged with flying while intoxicated and unlawful carrying of a weapon.
