Father suspected of DUI outside Hercules school, where police say son violated restraining order

HERCULES — A father is suspected of driving under the influence and carrying a loaded pistol in his truck outside Hercules High, where police said his son was violating a restraining order filed by another student.

The father-son arrests happened Wednesday while the school in the 1900 block of Refugio Way was in session. The father is a Hercules resident whose son lives in San Jose, police said.

The 41-year-old dad was arrested on suspicion of DUI, possession of a loaded firearm on school grounds and possession of a loaded gun inside a vehicle, police said. His 16-year-old son was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence for violating a restraining order and trespassing on school grounds, police said.

According to police, officers were called to the school Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. for a report that a 16-year-old boy was trespassing on the campus. Dispatchers told officers that the teen was inside the cafeteria.

A 16-year-old girl, who told police she had a restraining order against him, was in the principal’s office and campus security was still looking for the teen suspect when officers arrived. Security eventually found him near the school’s clocktower, where he was detained after police confirmed he had two restraining orders against him. Both were there to protect the girl.

Police determined he had come within 100 yards of the girl in violation of the restraining order.

The search for the teen took officers across the street to find the teenager’s Honda Fit. Police said about 12:55 p.m., as officers searched near the Honda, a man exited a 2018 Toyota Tundra Park and identified himself to officers as the teen’s father.

Police said his breath smelled sharply of alcohol and that his eyes were bloodshot. Officers had the man take a field sobriety test and preliminary blood-screening and both showed he was over the limit to drive, police said.

In their search for evidence of alcohol, police said officers found a loaded pistol concealed inside the truck’s unlocked center console vault. The gun was loaded with a 10-round pistol magazine and registered to the man, police said.

Two empty Mickey’s beer cans also were in the back,  police said.

Police booked the man into the Martinez Detention Facility, and the teen into Juvenile Hall. Tow trucks took away the Honda Fit and the truck.