KUSA – He was suspected of having too much to drink and Boulder Police did all they could to get him home safely. An officer downloaded the Uber app on the man’s phone, called him an Uber and watched as he took the short trip around the corner to the hotel parking garage where his car was parked.
If only he’d taken the Uber home.
Boulder Police were called to the St. Julien Hotel at 901 Canyon Boulevard on Sunday around 12:32 a.m. Hotel staff told officers there was an intoxicated man who they were concerned was going to try to drive home.
Police identified the man as Justin Torkildsen, 37. An officer described Torkildsen as, “visibly intoxicated and swaying somewhat,” according to an arrest report obtained by 9NEWS.
Torkildsen assured officers he was not going to drive and that he’d get an Uber. He was unable to find the Uber app on his phone, so one of the officers offered to help. The officer downloaded the app and plugged in Torkildsen’s address.
A car came to pick up Torkildsen a couple minutes later. Officers saw the Uber drive away and turn into the parking garage. One of the officers went into the garage and observed Torkildsen, “hanging out of the window of the Uber pushing buttons on his key fob to try to locate his vehicle,” the report said.
The Uber followed the sounds of Torkildsen’s honking car and let the passenger out. Police said Torkildsen then got in his own car, “rapidly accelerated out of the parking spot and began squealing the car’s tires as he drove rapidly through the parking garage and the wrong way up one of the entrance ramps.”
The officer in the garage ran up the ramp and stopped Torkildsen as he was turning around. Police said Torkildsen told officers he’d had four “fruit punch type drinks” throughout the night. Torkildsen failed a voluntary roadside maneuver test and was arrested.
He was booked into the Boulder County Jail on suspicion of DUI and reckless driving. He took a breath test at the jail that revealed his blood alcohol level was .226.
A check of Torkildsen’s record showed he had no previous criminal history in Colorado, but if his face looks familiar, that's because he rose to moderate notoriety in the early 00s.
According to IMDB, Torkildsen portrayed Rick Forrester on the soap opera, "The Bold and the Beautiful" from 1999 to 2006.
Present day, his Instagram page says he's "Doing [his] own thing now."
Torkildsen was born in Boulder where his arrest happened.
