(KFGO) – A Mahnomen County, Minnesota Sheriff’s Deputy was arrested and charged with D-W-I and refusing to submit to a chemical test after his arrest Tuesday afternoon near Mahnomen.
Two state troopers were called to assist a Mahnomen County sergeant after determining that a pickup that had gone into the ditch had been driven by off-duty deputy Rick Ohren, who lives in Hawley.
A patrol sergeant noted the odor of alcohol coming from Ohren, who was in the backseat of a county S-U-V. The complaint says Ohren had difficulty completing several field sobriety tests and said he had drunk 10 vodkas. A preliminary test showed a blood alcohol content of .284.
He refused a second breath test at the Northwest Regional Corrections Center in Crookston.
Sheriff Josh Guenther says Ohren was driving a personal vehicle and is on administrative leave.
He says the state patrol is handling the investigation.