Allegedly Drunk Man Called West Des Moines Police and Said He Needed a Ride

A Waukee man who allegedly called Westcom Dispatch about 4:30 a.m. Sunday claiming he was lost and it was too cold to walk around looking for his car, which he said had been stolen, got the ride he asked for.

But instead of taking Beau Clayton Feris, 33, to his home, West Des Moines Police took him to jail on public intoxication charges.

Officer Aaron Swenson said the 4:30 call was the second in less than hour to Wellman’s Pub, 497 Market St. The popular West Des Moines night spot had been closed for nearly two hours at about 3:45 a.m. when employees called police and asked for assistance in getting Feris to “move along.”

An employee of the bar told police that he had called a taxi twice for Feris, but each time the man refused the ride home.

Third Watch Commander Sgt. Steven Areges and Officer Stephen Becker responded to the original call, but were unable to locate Feris in the area of Wellman's. As the three officers were conferring, Swenson said he saw Feris stumbling near the northwest corner of the building.

Swenson approached in his vehicle and Feris stumbled in front of it twice, according to the report. Swenson reported that when he asked Feris what he was doing, he said he’d called for a ride.

But when the officer told Feris to get in the back of his car, he reportedly refused and said he wasn't getting in the sergeant's car, either. Even so, he demanded a ride home.

“He became more upset and said he was cold,” Swenson wrote in his report. “I asked him to sit on the curb while we called a cab, but he wouldn’t listen and began to argue.”

Feris, who refused a sobriety test, was arrested and charged with public intoxication.

He reportedly cursed at Swenson during the transport to jail and “made statements that did not make sense,” according to the report. “Several times, he asked why he was under arrest.”