Posted: 3/12/03

Snow, alcohol mix adds up to a crash

What do you get when you mix snow, poor driving conditions and a touch of alcohol?

The answer is accidents, minor injuries and criminal charges for driving under the influence.

Such was the case in two I-35 crashes in Forest Lake last weekend. The first crash took place in the early-morning hours on Saturday as snow moved into the area.

A motorist entering northbound I-35 from the W. Broadway ramp (CR-2) just before 3 a.m. spun out of control in the snow and hit a light pole as it entered I-35, Forest Lake police said. As the man exited the car to inspect the situation, the driver and vehicle were hit by a second car attempting to enter northbound I-35, police said.

The driver of the second car failed to stop, police said. The car, believed to be a late model white Honda, continued on north.

The driver of the first car received minor scratches after being hit, but the real pain was felt in a ticket handed to him by police for driving under the influence.

The second I-35 accident was reported around 5 p.m. Sunday when a northbound car that had stalled out was hit by a second northbound vehicle. Police said the accident was under the Broadway overpass to I-35.

There were no injuries, but the driver of the second car was ticketed for driving under the influence, Forest Lake police reported this week.

Wyoming arrest

Two Forest Lake officers assisted police in Wyoming at 8:30 p.m., Friday, March 7 after a male subjected assaulted a Wyoming police officer and fled on foot.

Forest Lake was called to Wyoming when a Wyoming officer investigating a report of a domestic incident in the parking lot at Wyoming City Hall was assaulted. According to Forest Lake police reports, the Wyoming officer was punched by the male subject who fled and was seen entering a home a short distance from the municipal building.

Officers from Forest Lake and the Minnesota State Patrol helped form a perimeter around the home where the subject had entered.

When the man tried to escape out a back door, he was caught by a Forest Lake officer. The man, believed from North Branch, was turned over to Wyoming police for the formal arrest and trip to jail in Center City where he awaited formal charging for his alleged role in the domestic assault, assault of an officer and fleeing police.

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