For Only Third Time In Recorded History, Man Is Arrested For Driving Zamboni While Intoxicated

A North Dakota man was arrested Friday night for driving a Zamboni under the influence.

Police were summoned to the South Sports Arena in Fargo by witnesses who reported that Steven Anderson, 27, was driving the ice resurfacing machine in an erratic manner. Anderson, a seasonal worker at the municipal facility, was operating the Zamboni between periods of a girls high school hockey game.

Anderson, seen in the above mug shot, was arrested after cops concluded that he was intoxicated. Charged with DUI, Anderson was booked into the county jail, from which he was released yesterday after posting bond.

In a Twitter post with the hashtag “bumperzamboni,” a spectator at the arena reported that, “I’ve never seen a zamboni have so much trouble around the edges.” Anderson was fired after his arrest.

According to Cass County court records, Anderson was busted in mid-December for drunk driving (a car) and possession of drug paraphernalia. He pleaded guilty last month to those misdemeanor counts and was ordered to perform community service and pay about $1100 in fines and fees. A 30-day jail sentence was suspended by a Municipal Court judge.

Anderson’s rap sheet also includes a 2009 conviction for public consumption of alcohol.

A check of the TSG archive reveals two prior arrests for drunk Zamboniing. In 2005, a 63-year-old New Jersey man was popped after a manager called cops to report that the man was recklessy careening around the Mennen Sports Arena in Morris County. In 2012, a Minnesota man was nabbed after repeatedly bouncing the Zamboni off the sideboards of a rink in Apple Valley. When cops confronted the man, he smelled of booze and was unsteady on his feet.