MAPLEWOOD, Minn. (WCCO) — The Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office has released a squad dash cam video of a suspected drunken driver trapped under his SUV after he fled police.
It happened Saturday night after a deputy saw the driver go past him at about 100 miles per hour on Interstate 35E near the Roselawn Avenue exit. The deputy was taking part in a DWI enforcement crackdown the county was doing with the Maplewood Police Department.
The driver stopped for a moment and then took off at a high rate of speed. Several minutes later, deputies found him trapped beneath his SUV. He had also hit another car before crashing his own vehicle.
“He could have killed himself or anybody else out on the highway that night,” said Ramsey County Sgt. Kevin Otto.
The SUV driver had a canceled license because of prior traffic violations. He was taken to the hospital for treatment of his injuries and faces DWI charges pending the results of blood tests, along with charges of fleeing police.
The Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office conducts at least two high-visibility DWI crackdowns a month in conjunction with other local law enforcement agencies. Last Saturday’s crackdown resulted in 18 DWI arrests, plus 319 traffic stops and 111 citations.
They hope releasing the dramatic dash cam video draws attention to their DWI saturation campaigns.
“We want people to know we are out there doing DWI enforcement so it deters people from doing it in the first place,” said Otto.
Their next crackdown is set for Saturday, Feb. 12.
19 Comments
KARMA… IS A B#TCH
January 19, 2011 at 6:54 pm | | Report comment
Good thing that they got 18 drunk drivers off the read before something bad happend. However that sounds like they stopped 200 people for no reason. That is concerning to me?????
January 19, 2011 at 7:32 pm | | Report comment
200 people may have been pulled over, but it saved a countless number of lives. Think of the big picture. I am so tired of people saying things like this! It may be an inconvenience; however if it saved even one life, I can live with it. What if your mother, father, brother, sister, wife, partner, son daughter, aunt, uncle, grandma, grandpa, best friend, co-worker, WHOEVER you know was in a drunk driving accident? You would not say something so ignorant. OPEN YOUR EYES! You may not love anyone or care about others at all but just think of this, everyone is someones daughter or son. Someone loves them or cares about them. You may not know them, but a death from a drunk driver is nothing but senseless act of stupidity. Its completely avoidable. IF YOU DRINK DON’T DRIVE, IF YOU DRIVE DON’T DRINK!
January 19, 2011 at 8:41 pm | | Report comment
Amen!
January 19, 2011 at 9:10 pm | | Report comment
Not only did they get those 18 drunks off the road, but I guarantee that kind of public showing deters others from drinking and driving. So try 18 + 200 more that thought long and hard about not having one more drink, etc.
January 20, 2011 at 10:17 am | | Report comment
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Well the courts will let this go with a small fine and ask him politely not to drive for a couple of months. But hey, why would we actually punish dangerous people?
January 19, 2011 at 7:45 pm | | Report comment
To John- 200 people did not get stopped for no reason, 200 LUCKY people probably got warnings instead of citations!!!
January 19, 2011 at 8:21 pm | | Report comment
To John, The 200 people did not get stopped for no reason. They were stopped for valid traffic violations. However, they were not drunk and were either cited or warned for those other violations. We don’t just randomly pull people over until be find a drunk driver. It doesn’t work that way. Our constitution prohibits that. We need a violation to stop everyone.
January 19, 2011 at 8:54 pm | | Report comment
L.E….there seems to be a growing number of law enforcement, who don’t seem to care about the constitution,across this whole country,as we see beatings,taserings,and even killings becomming more frequent…perhaps you are one of the good ones,but there are getting to be areas where people are more afraid of law enforcement then citizen criminals…
January 20, 2011 at 7:03 am | | Report comment
beatings,taserings,killings of innocent citizens
January 20, 2011 at 7:17 am | | Report comment
To L.E. There are random DWI stops all the time. It’s never happened to me, but I have friends who have been pulled over, given a breathalyzer, and let go. They were not warned or cited for anything else.
January 19, 2011 at 10:35 pm | | Report comment
When an officer saw me leave a liquor establishment, he drove ahead to a hidden spot where he could pull in behind me. He then followed me down a freeway ramp and pulled me over for “crossing the fog line.” The breathalyzer showed I was at little more than .02. I went back and tried to see if I could have crossed the fog line. There was no way I could have come close to it.
January 19, 2011 at 11:12 pm | | Report comment
.02 and behind the wheel? Are we bragging about this? .02 will soon turn into .04 then .08 See the pattern? or will we still be saying There was no way I could have come close to it.
January 20, 2011 at 6:58 am | | Report comment
wow the self-righeous are thick here, thkfully i know none of you and could care less if I ever do, take a look at yourselves sometime yes drinking and driving is terrible but being .02 or .04 is nothing less of a risk then the chithead on his cellphone
January 20, 2011 at 9:58 am | | Report comment
Actually if you are pulled over and blow a .04 to .07 you are considered driving impaired. it is up to the officer whether you are charged with a violation or not. At .08 or higher, you will be charged if you are caught. You can easily avoid this! This is no reason to drink then get behind the wheel. Think about how many lives you are endangering. It’s not worth the pain you can cause upon others, yourself and even your friends and family.
January 20, 2011 at 10:04 am | | Report comment
Don’t drink and drive people! Stay home and smoke Herb and wait for the police to kick down your doors! It’s much safer!……..for everyone involved!
January 20, 2011 at 12:06 pm | | Report comment
I believe at .04 you can lose your Commercial DL if you have one.
January 20, 2011 at 12:22 pm | | Report comment
There are some bad officers out there, it’s inevitable. I was totally sober, I don’t even drink. One night, in a 50 mph zone I was pulled over. Officer said I dropped my speed down to 47 mph and that was the reason he stopped me. Seriously? He ran my license, came back and said have a good night. I’m 100 percent against drink/ drive but cops do cross the line sometimes.
January 20, 2011 at 7:33 pm | | Report comment