He was driving his lawnmower while drunk - and mowing his neighbor's lawn, cops say

Cutting your neighbor's lawn can be a friendly way to help someone out with a dreary chore. But if the urge strikes you, it may help to ask permission first before climbing onto the mower.

It might also help not to be drunk.

Police in Franklin, Ind., arrested 46-year-old Barry Ridge on Saturday and charged him with operating while intoxicated after they spotted him puttering down a county road in a red lawn mower a little after 5 p.m, according to the Indianapolis Star.

Police had received a call from an annoyed neighbor who told them a man wearing a neon shirt and riding a red lawnmower drove onto his lawn and began cutting the grass, WRTV reported. The man told the grass-cutter to go away, and so off he went down the street, according to the station.

Police spotted Ridge and pulled him over. Police said his eyes were "glassy" and that he failed a breathalyzer and field sobriety test, according to Fox 59. At the jail, police marked his blood alcohol level at 0.165, or about twice the legal limit, according to the Indianapolis Star.

On the scene, Ridge allegedly told police he'd drunk three beers an hour ago and was on his way home from his uncle's house, according to WRTV.

It was Ridge's second arrest for alleged drunken lawnmower antics in four weeks. Police say Ridge was arrested on April 8, 2018 and charged with operating while intoxicated after causing a "disturbance" with a lawnmower in the parking lot of a Kroger, according to Fox 59.

Ridge is still awaiting trial on that first charge, so his bond was doubled for this second charge, according to WTHR. He was taken to jail Saturday night.

This story was originally published May 7, 2018 at 11:46 AM with the headline "He was driving his lawnmower while drunk - and mowing his neighbor's lawn, cops say."