Driving drunk on lawn mower? 40 days in jail for Mich. man

(CBS) BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. - A Michigan man who's a Navy veteran has been ordered to spend 40 days in jail after he pleaded guilty to driving drunk behind the wheel of a lawn mower, CBS Detroit reported.

According to the station, it was the third operating while intoxicated offense for 47-year-old Roy Walton, who was stopped by police as he was riding the mower to a Rite Aid in Bloomfield Township last March.

Walton blew a 0.10 in a breathalyzer test which got him arrested in the parking lot outside the store. The state's legal blood-alcohol limit for driving is 0.08.

Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Wendy Potts also sentenced Walton to two years probation and alcohol/drug testing. He'll have a chance of work release from jail after 30 days, CBS Detroit reported.

Defense lawyer John Secrest had sought a 30-day suspended sentence, telling the judge incarceration seemed like a severe penalty for driving a lawn mower.

"I think it's too harsh, you know," Secrest told reporters following the sentencing on Wednesday.

"I think the prosecutors in their discretion could have modified the charges somewhat," he said. "I'm not saying he's not at fault for doing something wrong. On the other hand, I don't think that it warrants a felony," Walton's lawyer said.

Walton had been driving a car the first two times he was charged with driving drunk.