I wrote about the saga of Hennepin County Dave Hutchinson two weeks ago in “Our drunk sheriff and the SUV he rode in on.” Incredibly, Hutchinson is still the sheriff of Hennepin County. In the latest update to the story, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety released an investigative file including video and photos from the scene of Hutchinson’s DWI crash in Alexandria last month. See, for example, this CBS Minnesota story.
We have learned salient details of the story thanks to the work of independent journalist Rebecca Brannon on Twitter. Rebecca is all over the latest developments. I will be on KTLK AM 1130’s Justice and Drew show with Rebecca this morning from 7:00 – 9:00 a.m. The show can be live streamed here. I would guess we will be discussing the latest developments in the Hutchinson saga, among other things.
At the time he crashed his county SUV Hutchinson was driving 126 miles per hour. He had three firearms in the vehicle with him. When he was tested two hours after the crash, Hutchinson had a blood alcohol content over three times the legal limit applicable to someone carrying a firearm. He appears to have thrown his keys on the highway so he could deny he was driving the car. He wasn’t wearing a seat belt when driving. And so on.
SQUAD CAM FOOTAGE: Sheriff Hutchinson after drunk driving shows him slurring & lying to a police officer:
“What’s your name, sir?”
“Dave.”
“Ok so you said you weren’t driving?"
“No…Where are we right now?”
“We’re in Douglas County, we’re by Alexandria.”
“Yeah, I didn’t drive.” pic.twitter.com/MQJv5xn1js— Rebecca Brannon (@RebsBrannon) January 20, 2022
Sheriff Hutchinson was driving in excess of 120 MPH and wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. It also cost $888.56 to tow the wrecked squad car.
It’s also still unclear whether or not Hutchinson has yet paid any restitution for the wrecked county squad as he stated to media he would. pic.twitter.com/ARVjBb0BHh
— Rebecca Brannon (@RebsBrannon) January 20, 2022
Separate photos taken for the search warrant show the bottle of Rare Eagle Bourbon and multiple firearms retrieved from the wrecked squad and crash scene. pic.twitter.com/6OUjztfI9W
— Rebecca Brannon (@RebsBrannon) January 20, 2022
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