CLAY TWP — A township man is accused of using his children, ages 12 and 14, as designated drivers after allegedly having too much to drink.

Before the older boy took over the wheel, authorities said, he texted his mother telling her his father was “drunk as a skunk.”

Police charged 54-year-old Robert E. Ralston Thursday with driving under the influence and child endangerment stemming from the incident last month in Clay Township.

He also was cited for several traffic violations, including permitting an unauthorized person to drive his vehicle.

Police said that Ralston's estranged wife told them that he had been at her home around noon to pick up their sons in his Oldsmobile Bravada.

The 14-year-old later recounted that his father dropped him off at another house before driving to get pizza with his younger brother, charging documents said.

The 12-year-old recalled his father ran a couple of errands before they got to the pizza shop around 4 p.m. The boy went in to pick up the order.

But when he returned to the vehicle, the boy said the defendant “asked him for help getting out of the SUV, then asked him to drive back” to the house where he had left the older boy, according to Trooper Philip Treadway's affidavit.

Police said the boy also advised them that he thought his father was “talking funny” while at the shop.

The pizza shop owner also said she saw the 12-year-old get into the vehicle and drive away, documents said.

After the father and sons reunited and ate pizza, Ralston allegedly drove them to a neighbor's house, where the younger boy was dropped off.

While en route at 5:42 p.m., the 14-year-old sent his mother the text, telling her of his father's condition and asking for help, documents said.

The boy eventually replaced the defendant in the driver's seat. Treadway was at the defendant's home around 6 p.m., when he said he saw the boy pull the SUV into the driveway.

Ralston, who was in the passenger seat, admitted that he had “a couple drinks” around 3 p.m., the affidavit said. He also admitted that he had driven his sons before police found him.

The defendant showed impairment during field sobriety tests and he was taken for a breath test that showed his blood-alcohol level was 0.115 percent. A level of 0.08 percent is considered intoxicated under state law.

Treadway noted in his affidavit that this is Ralston's second DUI offense.