Kandiyohi County deputy who crashed squad car while drunk put on probation
KANDIYOHI COUNTY, Minn. — A central Minnesota sheriff's deputy who crashed his squad car while under the influence of alcohol will be put on probation, court documents say.
Christopher Flatten will be on probation for two years and documents say his 90-day jail sentence will be stayed for two years.
He pleaded guilty Tuesday to fourth-degree driving under the influence in exchange for a charge of third-degree test refusal being dropped.
Flatten was found unresponsive in his crashed squad car on July 18 in Gennessee Township, court documents said. Witnesses said he ran a stop sign in his squad car and swerved "all over the road" before the crash. Another witness said he saw the squad car roll five or six times.
He was airlifted to a hospital, where he refused a blood sample, documents said. A state trooper at the hospital observed "an odor of alcoholic beverage" coming from Flatten and that he had slurred speech and bloodshot, glassy eyes, the complaint states.
In August, Kandiyohi County Sheriff Eric Tollefson said Flatten has been on critical incident leave since the crash and will continue to be pending the outcome of an internal investigation and criminal proceedings.
