Amish Teen Charged With Driving Horse While Intoxicated

by Craig Boudreau

A teenager was formally charged with multiple counts of driving under the influence, including driving his horse-drawn buggy while intoxicated.

Robert Miller, 18, a Pennsylvania Amish teenager from the home of everyone’s favorite groundhog — Punxsutawney — was originally pulled over for the infraction July 8 in Canoe Township, and was officially charged Wednesday, The Daily Mail reported Thursday.

Miller was also charged with a second count of “being incapable of safely operating a vehicle while under the influence,” careless driving, underage possession of alcohol, and a violation of the open container in a vehicle law, Corporal Adam Reed, Coordinator of the Public Information Office for the Pennsylvania State Police, told The Daily Caller News Foundation.

Miller’s four passengers, Andrew Coblentz and Raymond Kurtz, both 20 year olds, William Byler, 18, and an unnamed 16 year-old, were also charged with underage drinking.

The police said they initially pulled Miller over because they saw two of his friends surfing atop the buggy at 11 p.m., a dead give-away.

The reason for the more than month-long delay in filing official charges was due to the fact that it can take several weeks for blood test results to come back from the lab, Reed said.

The legal limit for blood alcohol content in Pennsylvania is .08 percent, but for minors the limit is .02 percent. The police were unable to tell TheDCNF what Miller’s actual blood alcohol content was.

There is something called “Rumspringa,” which translates to running around, that Amish teens undertake after turning 16 years-old. During Rumspringa, they are allowed to “bend and break” the rules of the Ordnung, which is an Amish guideline “for daily living,” which could be an explanation for the drunk buggy ride and surf, although Pennsylvania State Police were unable to confirm that with TheDCNF.

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