ST. PAUL, Min. – A 30-year-old off-duty St. Paul police officer had a blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal limit when he crashed into a vacant building in August, the complaint says.
Bryan James McKinnon faces two charges of third-degree DWI, according to the criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County.
According to charging documents, police were called just after midnight on August 1 to a car crash at Third and Maple Streets in St. Paul. car had crashed into a building.
Upon arrival, officers noticed the vehicle was on fire. They tried to use fire extinguishers to put out the fire, but it spread, police said. The structural integrity of the building was compromised, so officers withdrew from the building and the St. Paul Fire Department responded to the fire.
One of the responding officers recognized the vehicle involved in the crash and realized it belonged to their colleague McKinnon.
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McKinnon allegedly stopped the officer and appeared to be in shock and very distraught, the complaint said.
St. Paul police contacted the Minnesota State Patrol to take over the investigation because of the potential conflict of interest.
During the initial investigation, a state trooper who interviewed McKinnon about the crash noticed a slight slur when he spoke, that his eyes were glassy and bloodshot and that he had a “moderate odor of an alcoholic beverage consumed,” according to the complaint. McKinnon told the officer he had lost control of his vehicle and did not know how fast he was going at the time of the crash.
When asked if he had been drinking before driving, McKinnon allegedly told the officer he had had two beers.
The trooper then administered standard field sobriety tests on McKinnon, but he failed. Court documents show McKinnon refused to submit a portable breath test.
The trooper then arrested McKinnon and transported him to Regions Hospital for a blood draw after being granted a search warrant.
According to the indictment, blood samples showed McKinon had an ethyl alcohol concentration of 0.178.
The Minneapolis District Attorney’s Office will prosecute the case due to the potential for a conflict of interest.
McKinnon’s arrangement is scheduled for December 3.
