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‘I don’t want to die’: Children text 911 to report father driving drunk

Posted at 6:35 AM, Apr 15, 2016
and last updated 2016-04-15 06:35:14-04

KEARNEY, Neb. – Fearing for their own safety, two children found a clever way to report their father, who they say was driving drunk.

Mackenzie Behrens, 14, and her 12-year-old brother Ethan were in the car with their father, Jason Behrens, who was taking them on vacation to Colorado, according to KUTV.

“We told him we don’t want to go anymore because you are drunk and I don’t want to die,” Mackenzie said.

Ethan said he could hear the air whooshing past from oncoming cars as his father swerved toward the other lanes.

Behrens laughed it off, saying he wasn’t drunk, the siblings said, but they came up with a plan. After drafting a text message to send to 911, they agreed they would send it if he swerved one more time.

It didn’t take long for that to happen, Mackenzie said, and she sent the text.

To make it easier for Kearney police to find them, the children convinced their father to stop at a Burger King. Officers arrived and tested Behrens’ blood alcohol content, which was three times the legal limit, KUTV reported. He faces a charge of DUI and two counts of driving drunk with minors in the car.

“He’s our parent, our other parent. It was hard, but he just pushed us to the point that we had to,” Ethan said.