(MOBILE, Ala.) - Police arrested two men on drug charges after they were found asleep at a University Boulevard intersection while their vehicle was running.
20-year-old Devonte Minger and 21-year-old George Jones are each charged with possession of marijuana, while Minger was also charged with possession of a controlled substance.
Mobile Police Captain Clay Godwin said the Mobile Fire-Rescue Department originally received a sick call Wednesday night at the University Boulevard and Bit and Spur Road.
"They had originally received a call of two unconscious behind the wheel of a vehicle," Godwin said.
Godwin said when patrolmen arrived on the scene they found Minger and Jones asleep at the wheel.
"They were asleep in traffic, stopped in traffic at the light," Godwin said, "and when the traffic moved, they had fallen asleep and weren't moving. The car was running and in gear."
Godwin said after searching the two's vehicle officers found two large bags of marijuana and hydrocodone syrup.
"One of them had two containers of hyrdocodone syrup," Godwin said, "which mixed on the street with Gatorades and other kinds of sodas its street name would be 'sip sip', and it's kind of an accelerated intoxicant."
Godwin said, behind the wheel, the mixture is just as impairing as alcohol.
"Marijuana and especially hydrocodone would have the same type of effect that would render you unconscious if you were taking some of that while driving a vehicle," Godwin said.
However, Godwin said, Minger and Jones will not face DUI charges.
"You wouldn't be able to prove in court that they were under the influence because there's no chemical test," Godwin said.
Godwin said the State of Alabama does not allow for medically induced chemical tests at a hospital, which means police can't draw blood from a driver they suspect of driving under the influence.
