What was the guy dressed as Tinky Winky thinking?

It's up to the courts to decide what punishment former Canadian national junior team hopeful Riley Sheahan will face, but there's no reason to hold off on horrified laughter now the police report from his Oct. 29 drunk-driving arrest has been published. On top of the legal issues Sheahan is facing for having a blood-alcohol content nearly four times the legal limit and using a teammate's driver's licence when he was stopped two days before Halloween, he's also given opponents a ready-made taunt for the rest of his career. The 20-year-old ecent NCAA graduate (three seasons at Notre Dame) will go down as the hockey player who got arrested wearing a purple Teletubby costume. You cannot make this up.

From Peter J. Wallner, who obtained the police arrest report via a Freedom of Information Act request and then kept a straight face while typing up his article:

Sheahan, 20, who plays for the Grand Rapids Griffins ... was carrying the Michigan driver's license of [23-year-old Griffins teammate] Brendan Smith when he was pulled over by police on Ottawa Avenue NW in downtown Grand Rapids. ... Sheahan, the Red Wings top pick in the 2010 NHL draft, was wearing a purple Teletubby costume when he was pulled over shortly before midnight on Oct. 29 for driving a 2012 Jeep Wrangler the wrong way on Ottawa Avenue NW, near Pearl Street.

Police initially believed they had arrested Smith before learning later in the night that it was Sheahan. (MLive)

Impaired driving is no laughing matter, but the Teletubby costume is.

Hopefully for Sheahan, he will get whatever help he needs not only with the court case but with making sure he doesn't make such a mistake with alcohol ever again. Michigan's super-drunk law, as it's known, is also very strict.

Sheahan could face up to 180 days in jail and be deported from the U.S., since he's Canadian. The charges against him include providing false information for showing police Brendan Smith's licence. As a promising young athlete, Sheahan will have people vouch for him. But this is a very serious offence.

Photo: http://heckyesgrandrapidsgriffins.tumblr.com/

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Contact him at neatesager@yahoo.ca and follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.