Police say they found the driver of a gas tanker passed out and drunk behind the wheel in Bohemia Friday morning.

Police say they approached the vehicle on the shoulder of the Sunrise Highway at around 2:35 a.m. when they discovered Hernadz Nazarchuk, of Brooklyn, asleep.

Nazarchuk pleaded not guilty to a driving while intoxicated charge and was released after posting bail.

The truck is being weighed and inspected for other possible violations at the Suffolk police impound yard in Westhampton.

According to Department of Motor Vehicles records, Nazarchuk was arrested for drunken driving in November 2013. He was convicted of driving while impaired, fined $500 and lost his commercial driver's license for one year.

News 12 asked his employer, Crown Petroleum Transportation, of Lawrence, why they hired a driver of highly flammable liquid materials with a drunken driving record. Crown Petroleum did not return multiple calls.