SUSPECTED DRUNKEN DRIVER STRIKES MINNESOTA TROOPER'S CRUISER
A suspected drunken driver struck a State Patrol squad car on southbound Interstate Hwy. 35 near Garfield Avenue in Duluth, the patrol said today. A suspected drunken driver struck a State Patrol squad car on southbound Interstate Hwy. 35 near Garfield Avenue in Duluth, the patrol said today.
According to the patrol shortly after 11 Monday night, the trooper was approaching a vehicle he had just stopped on the right shoulder of I-35 when a vehicle driven by a 55-year-old Duluth man swerved and struck the squad on the driver-side door. The trooper leaped onto the trunk of his patrol car to avoid injury.
The suspect was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor driving while under the influence of alcohol and booked into the St. Louis County jail. He had an alcohol concentration of 0.15 percent, according to the breath test administered. That's almost twice the legal limit for driving in Minnesota.
"This is yet another reminder of the dangers impaired driver's pose, not only for all motorists, but to law enforcement officers as well," said Capt. Kent Matthews, of the State Patrol Duluth district.
Each year in Minnesota, alcohol-related crashes account for 30-40 percent of all traffic deaths. Last year, a record 41,842 motorists were arrested for DWI in Minnesota.
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