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Wrong-Way Drunken Driving Suspect Seeks 'Warning'

By Caroline Lowe, WCCO-TV

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The Minnesota State Patrol is sharing video with the hope that it will keep our roads safer this upcoming holiday season.

The video shows a car being driven the wrong way on a Twin Cities highway last month. It also shows her pleading with the patroller who pulled her over to let her off with a warning.

The driver was pulled over at about 2 a.m. the Monday after Thanksgiving on Highway 77 in Eagan.

Investigators think 26-year-old Angela Olson had been drinking. The State Patrol says it is Olson's third DWI arrest in the past four years.

More than once, the vehicle she was driving just missed oncoming traffic.

"You don't expect to see cars going the wrong way," explained State Patrol Lt. Eric Roeske. "It is a very tense situation for everyone involved, hoping that you can there and get this person stopped before there is a disaster."

For the four minutes after authorities spotted the wrong-way driver, State Patrol dispatchers watched the car almost hit five vehicles, including a truck.

"The vehicle coming in the opposite direction probably has no idea until about then that there is a vehicle coming at them," pointed out Roeske.

A trooper finally caught up with the car on Old Shakopee Road in Bloomington. Olson blew almost triple the legal limit.

She was put in the back of the trooper's squad, which is where she asked for a break.

"Just let me turn around. I mean, I know can just make it back home, please," she pleaded. "I hear about so many people getting off with warnings."

The trooper responded, "I can't give you a warning tonight. You seem like a very nice person but I can't do that."

The State Patrol hopes that seeing this video will make people think when they party this holiday season.

"Keep in mind how dangerous impaired driving can be and encourage them to make a plan so they don't get behind the wheel after they have been drinking," said Roeske. "We see this happen way too frequently."

Olson has been released from jail while prosecutors wait for the results of blood and urine tests. They're expected to take three to six weeks.

WCCO-TV's Caroline Lowe Reports

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