Western MN deputy charged for DWI crash in squad car
Christopher Flatten when he served as a Willmar PD officer before joining Kandiyohi County.
GENNESSEE TOWNSHIP, Minn. (FOX 9) - A sheriff's deputy in western Minnesota is facing charges after he rolled his squad in an alleged drunken wreck last month.
Kandiyohi County Deputy Christopher Flatten is charged with driving while intoxicated and refusing a chemical test.
What happened?
On July 18, troopers responded to the report of a single-car crash involving a squad SUV off 1st Avenue East in Gennessee Township. The scene of the crash is about ten miles east of Willmar.
At the scene, troopers found the squad, a Ford Explorer, heavily damaged, resting on its passenger side. Deputy Flatten was pulled from the vehicle and airlifted to a hospital.
A witness said Flatten's squad crossed 1st Avenue East and rolled five or six times into the ditch.
Another witness, who was driving a semi behind Flatten's squad on Highway 12 before the crash, told troopers he spotted the squad driving through a stop sign onto Highway 12 near Willmar. According to the charges, the truck driver reported the squad was "all over the road" on Highway 12 crossing over the centerline at times and over the fog line into the grass on the shoulder of the road at other points.
What happened next?
Due to the circumstances of the crash, troopers got a search warrant to test Deputy Flatten's blood.
However, at the hospital, the charges state Flatten refused the tests. However, troopers noted the smell of alcohol on Flatten's breath and said his eyes were "bloodshot and glossy."
Where do things stand now?
Charges were filed against Flatten last week, about three weeks after the crash. In a statement, Kandiyohi County Sheriff Eric Tollefson said Deputy Flatten remains on leave after the crash.
The sheriff's statement reads in full:
"I am deeply concerned by the allegations made against Deputy Flatten in the charging documents. They do not reflect or align with the values of our office, the character of our deputies or the expectations of the people we serve. We are taking this situation seriously and cooperating with the investigating agencies. Deputy Flatten has been on critical incident leave since the incident, which will continue until the outcome of the internal investigation and the criminal proceedings."