Kenner Fire Department. This car, allegedly driven by Mario Perez, crashed into a Kenner fire station on Christmas morning. Perez was booked with DWI after authorities found it was packed with beer.

Written by Ramon Antonio Vargas for The Times-Picayune

(There are drunk drivers and there are sheer idiots. The editors LTS will leave this judgment in this case up to the reader.-LTS)

A man who crashed a car full of beers into a Kenner fire station on Christmas morning was booked with drunk driving, according to authorities.

Mario Perez, 29, needed treatment at a local hospital because his head plowed through the car’s windshield during the early-morning wreck, but doctors handed him over to Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies a short while later.

A passenger of Perez’s also received treatment for minor injuries, but deputies did not accuse him of any violations. He was not identified.

According to Kenner authorities, Perez drove a black 1997 Ford Mustang in the 1800 block of Williams Blvd. about 6:15 a.m. when he lost control of it. The car slammed into the front of nearby Kenner Fire Department Station No. 35.

A captain inside the fire house at the time heard the “thunk” of the impact, city spokesman Emile Lafourcade said. The captain headed to the station’s apparatus floor, noticed several of the building’s bricks strewn across the floor and stepped outside to investigate.

There, officials said, Perez’s vehicle reeked of alcohol. Empty glass beer bottles and unopened, full bottles of beer had been thrown from the car onto the station lawn.

After Perez was examined at the hospital, deputies booked him with DWI, driving without a license, having no insurance or license plate on his car and two unrelated traffic attachments.

He lives in an apartment in the 2700 block of Dawson Street, said Lt. Wayne McInnis, a Kenner police spokesman.

Fire Chief John Hellmers said the wreck damaged one of the station’s large front overhead doors. The fire truck will be leaving the house’s rear door, instead of the front, until repairs are performed, he said.

Fire Department Station No. 35 is a two-bay house neighboring City Hall.

Ramon Antonio Vargas can be reached at rvargas@timespicayune.com or 985.898.2827.