More Than 2,500 DWI Arrests Made In Minnesota Over The Holidays
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Safety officials say that over the holidays, law enforcement officials on Minnesota roads arrested 2,502 people for driving under the influence.
From Thanksgiving until after New Year's Day, there was extra DWI enforcement on Minnesota roads on holidays and weekends. The Department of Public Safety released the numbers on Wednesday, saying that some of the things law enforcement saw over the increased enforcement period were "not only disturbing but frightening."
They included a 50-year-old man driving drunk with his 11-year-old child in the car; a 33-year-old man who drunkenly blew through a stop sign, crashed into another car and caused severe injuries; and two people who both got arrested for DWI after the drunk driver became sick, pulled over and his drunk female companion took the wheel.
"Unfortunately, these examples of DWI arrests are all too common," said Traffic Safety director Donna Berger in a press release.
Most of the DWI arrests recorded over the increased enforcement period happened in the metro, with the State Patrol agency in Oakdale seeing the highest number: 173. The Golden Valley agency saw just one arrest fewer.
Minneapolis police arrested 59 people for DWI over the increased enforcement period. St. Paul authorities arrested 74.
In greater Minnesota, the Rochester area State Patrol saw 62 arrests. The combined total of arrests for agencies near St. Cloud was over 100.
Totals for all agencies can be seen here.
As for blood alcohol readings, authorities say the highest measured over the increased enforcement period was taken by the Minnetonka Police Department, with a motorist blowing a .40 BCA – that's more than four times the legal limit.
The next highest number was recorded by the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office (.39) and the third highest (.35) was matched by three departments, Bloomington, Bemidji and Plymouth.
The legal limit in Minnesota is 0.08.
On New Year's Eve alone, 152 arrests were made across Minnesota, the State Patrol said. That number is actually down from 174 arrests in 2014 and 191 arrests in 2013.
Although the holiday season saw more than 2,000 DWI arrests, authorities listed no fatalities among the numbers released on Wednesday.
