Naked couple in SUV arrested, accused of drinking, "embracing" on I-90

When the trooper saw the Ford Explorer drifting across Interstate 90 in Bellevue, he assumed it was yet another drunk driver.

But when he walked up to the car at 1:20 a.m. last Friday, he was greeted by a naked couple trying to stash an empty wine bottle, according to the State Patrol.

The 20-year-old woman in the passenger seat quickly grabbed a T-shirt to cover up, but the 19-year-old man driving didn't flinch, said State Patrol spokesman Jeff Merrill. They said they were driving back from Snoqualmie Falls.

The trooper asked the couple to get dressed, and both took a sobriety test. The driver had a breath-alcohol content of 0.08 percent, the State Patrol said, and was cited for drunken driving as a minor.

He was also cited for embracing while driving, a misdemeanor.

Merrill said it appears the couple were engaging in some sort of "physical act."

"There were some acts of physical intimacy going on in the vehicle that were best saved for not driving down the freeway," Merrill said.

The woman was cited for being a minor in possession of alcohol.

The two were taken to the Mercer Island Police Department, where a friend picked them up. The Explorer was impounded, Merrill said.

"We don't see it very often," Merrill said of nude driving.

"We harp on the fact that being impaired is so dangerous, but being distracted is equally as dangerous. I can't think of anything more distracting than this."

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com