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An hour before DWI crash, Hennepin County sheriff called for a ride to a bar
By: ['Ricardo Lopez', 'More From Author', '- January'], Minnesota Reformer
Date: 2022-01-20 00:00:00
An hour before he crashed his county-owned vehicle, Hennepin County Sheriff David Hutchinson called an Alexandria cab driver asking whether any bars were still open, according to investigative audio released by the Minnesota State Patrol on Thursday.
The trove of documents contained other new information, including that Hutchinson was driving more than 120 miles per hour when he crashed his car and was not wearing a seatbelt.
Hutchinson told responding officers several times that he was not driving. Officers said he was slurring his words and smelled of alcohol.
He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor offense of driving while intoxicated. His blood alcohol level was 0.13%, above the legal limit of 0.08%. His 90-day sentence was “stayed,” meaning he will not serve any jail time unless he violates the terms of his two-year probation. He was also fined $610.
Douglas County law enforcement also released dashcam footage from the crash scene, in which Hutchinson, seated in the officer’s patrol car, is slurring his words and asking where he is.
Earlier this month, a State Patrol search warrant raised questions about Hutchinson’s account of the crash.
Douglas County deputies who responded to the crash said Hutchinson claimed a cab driver was driving his SUV.
Mark Swanson, owner and operator of Alec-Courier, an Alexandria cab company, told Alexandria investigators about a phone call he received at 1:19 a.m.
“I had a guy call me at 1:20-ish and ask me, ‘Any bars still open?’” Swanson said during one phone call with police. “He called me from a 612 number. I said, ‘No, by the time I got there to get you, they’d be all closed down.’”
He added: “I never heard back from him again.”
He later provided the phone number to police, who confirmed it was Hutchinson’s.
Jeremy Zoss, a Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office spokesman, said Hutchinson was not immediately available for comment.
Alexandria police also called a second cab company in the area and were told they did not receive a call from the sheriff. Police confirmed that neither cab company drives a customer’s car for them, as Hutchinson first claimed.
“People ask all the time, but I don’t do it. I tell them, nope, we don’t do that,” Swanson said. “We don’t make money doing that, and it’s not safe.”
Asked by Alexandria police if Hutchinson sounded intoxicated, Swanson said the man sounded “a little” intoxicated.
Hutchinson, who was seriously injured and hospitalized, has faced scrutiny since the Dec. 8 DWI crash in Alexandria.
He has refused to resign amid calls from a majority of Hennepin County commissioners to step down, saying he will leave the decision to voters. Hutchinson says he takes responsibility for his actions and is receiving outpatient treatment for alcoholism and mental health issues.
In media interviews in late December, Hutchinson said he had attended a law enforcement convention in Alexandria and had a few drinks before returning to his room at the Arrowwood Resort. He said he was unable to sleep so he decided to make the two-hour drive back to the Twin Cities.
He crashed his Ford Explorer around 2:30 a.m. five miles east in Alexandria along Interstate 94.
This story is developing and will be updated.
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