A Chisago County man is lucky he only earned a DUI after fleeing from police across a frozen lake with his children in the vehicle late last week.
The incident occurred last Thursday on Green Lake in Chisago City. According to the police report, officers responded to a call from a concerned citizen that a very intoxicated man was driving on the ice with his children in the car. A deputy drove onto the lake and approached the driver, but the man quickly jumped into his vehicle and took off across the lake. The incident was caught on camera by a nearby ice fisherman, who uploaded the video to Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/118327521666069/videos/759097750922373/
Caught and Charged
Although you can’t see it in the video, the driver eventually came to his senses and stopped his car after driving off the lake. However, he refused to exit his vehicle, so he had to be forcibly removed by sheriff’s deputies. He was charged with second degree DWI and fleeing in a motor vehicle.
As we talk about on this page, a second degree DWI is no joke. The more aggravating factors a driver has, the more serious DWI charge they will face. Although the story doesn’t detail what the driver’s blood alcohol content was, we know that he had his children in the vehicle with him, which is an aggravating factor. A second degree DWI means there was one other aggravating factor present, meaning the driver either blew over a 0.16 or had a previous DUI on his record within the last 10 years.
A second degree DWI is considered a gross misdemeanor offense in Minnesota, punishable by up to one year in jail and up to $3,000 in fines. They driver should be thankful that he didn’t hurt himself, his children or someone else had he crashed or plunged through the ice. He’d be wise to lawyer up ASAP.
