Cops: Drunken motorist drove without tire

A Florida man whom State Police found early Sunday in his disabled car on Northern Parkway after he drove "on the rim for a long duration" faces a drunken driving charge, police said.

Troopers found a white Hyundai stopped on the parkway in North Hills -- and missing a front tire -- near Searingtown Road at about 2:18 a.m.

The driver, Adam Gula, 23, of Spring Hill, Fla., told police he was trying to find his father's house in Lindenhurst.

Police said it appeared the car had been "driven on the rim for a long duration" and that while interviewing Gula they "detected a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage."

Gula failed sobriety tests and was arrested, police said. He also produced a breath-analyzer sample of .19 percent, police said.

Gula is charged with DWI and traffic violations and is scheduled to appear at First District court in Hempstead on March 21.