---
title: "Drunk Uncle Made 11-Year-Old Nephew Act as Designated Driver, Police Say"
description: "When Fun Uncle becomes Drunk Uncle."
date: "2017-10-27"
modified: "2017-10-28"
authors:
  - name: "Kyle Cheromcha"
    job_title: "Editor-in-Chief"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/kyle-cheromcha.md"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/15538/drunk-uncle-made-11-year-old-nephew-act-as-designated-driver-police-say"
categories:
  - "News"
tags:
  - "California"
  - "Children"
  - "Crime"
  - "designated driver"
  - "dui"
  - "Honda Civic"
  - "police"
---

# Drunk Uncle Made 11-Year-Old Nephew Act as Designated Driver, Police Say

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2017/10/drunk-driver.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

There's a not-so-fine line between being a Fun Uncle and a Drunk Uncle. Letting your 11-year-old nephew get behind the wheel and rev the engine in an empty parking lot? Fun Uncle. Getting hammered and then using him [as your designated driver,](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/11740/florida-woman-lets-12-year-old-drive-and-youll-never-guess-what-happened.md>) as one California man did this week? Drunk Uncle, for sure.

The Port Hueneme Police Department [posted the cautionary tale](<https://www.facebook.com/PortHuenemePD/posts/495070500870627>) of 29-year-old Genoro Lopez on Facebook this week. On Sunday afternoon, an officer spotted a ratty sixth-gen Honda Civic being driven through a major intersection in town [by what appeared to be a small boy](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/9607/12-year-old-drives-a-third-of-the-way-across-australia-alone.md>) "between 8 and 10 years old." The officer watched the child commit several "traffic violations"—because, well, he's a child—and pulled him over.

At the same time, Port Hueneme dispatch started receiving several calls about a young boy driving a car around town with a man "slumped over" in the passenger's seat. The officer approached the car and discovered the 11-year-old behind the wheel with Lopez passed out next to him. The child was so small, he was sitting on a bunched-up sweat shirt to reach the pedals and see over the steering wheel.

The boy initially told officers that Lopez was [teaching him how to drive,](<https://www.thedrive.com/article/9365/florida-parents-allow-14-year-old-to-drive-crash-and-injure-seven-people.md>) but later said his uncle was too drunk and asked him to drive instead. Lopez's troubles didn't end there, as he had both an open container of beer *and* a fake handgun on him, and cops later determined he had used methamphetamine just hours before while he was still watching his young nephew. He admitted that he had asked the boy to drive to avoid picking up another DUI arrest. Obviously, it didn't work quite as planned.

Lopez was taken to jail for child endangerment, the open container of alcohol in a vehicle, and an unrelated outstanding warrant, [police told *KTLA.*](<https://ktla.com/2017/10/25/allegedly-intoxicated-uncle-arrested-after-11-year-old-designated-driver-is-pulled-over-by-port-hueneme-police-authorities/>) The 11-year-old is now in the custody of his mother. On the bright side, at least he had the coolest story on the playground this week.

## Author
Overseeing an expert staff of writers and editors from his lair in Los Angeles, Kyle shapes The Drive’s singular approach to covering the automotive industry and car culture. He’s been with the site as a writer since 2017, taking over as editor in 2019. On a daily basis, Kyle is responsible for directing The Drive's editorial news and car review content strategies, setting special coverage priorities, managing complex reporting projects, and ensuring what you read on the page meets our high internal standards for quality and trustworthiness. He is also the executive producer of The Drive's YouTube channel, which was relaunched in February 2024 to great acclaim and has accumulated over 14M new views in its first year back on the scene. He hosts a biweekly series on the channel where he breaks down fascinating and complicated stories from the automotive world.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/kylecheromcha.bsky.social>)  
[Instagram](<https://www.instagram.com/kylecheromcha>)  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-cheromcha-1550248a/>)