歪歪漫画

WILLMAR 鈥� A Kandiyohi County sheriff's deputy is facing drunken driving charges related to a July 18 crash while driving his squad vehicle.

Christopher Todd Flatten, 39, of Atwater, has been summoned to appear in Kandiyohi County District Court on a gross misdemeanor charge of third-degree driving while impaired 鈥� refusal to test and a misdemeanor charge of fourth-degree DWI.

He was not arrested and is not in custody. His first appearance is set for Sept. 4.

Flatten is also the former Willmar police officer named alongside the city of Willmar in A hearing in the civil suit filed earlier this year, which is not related to the criminal case, is set for Dec. 19.

According to the criminal complaint filed Aug. 7 in Kandiyohi County District Court, Flatten is identified as Flatten suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the crash south of Atwater and was in stable condition after being transported to the CentraCare 鈥� St. Cloud Hospital.

The complaint alleges that Flatten was operating his squad vehicle 鈥� a 2018 Ford Explorer 鈥� under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash. He was in uniform when the crash was reported around 6:21 p.m. July 18.

According to the complaint, an adult male driving a semitractor eastbound on U.S. Highway 12 had been following Flatten and said he saw the squad vehicle turn eastbound onto Highway 12 without stopping at a stop sign on the Minnesota Highway 23 bypass.

The semi driver said the squad car was 鈥渁ll over the road,鈥� crossing over the center and fog lines and driving onto the grass shoulder of the road. He told Minnesota State Patrol troopers the squad vehicle was continuously swerving and traveling at speeds faster than 60 mph before turning southbound onto County Road 4.

A second adult male, who witnessed the crash, told State Patrol troopers he was traveling east on First Avenue toward County Road 4 when he saw the squad car go across the intersection and roll five or six times in the ditch. No other vehicles were on the road at the time of the crash, according to the complaint.

Evidence observed on the roadway was consistent with statements both of the witnesses had given law enforcement. As a result, a state trooper applied for and obtained a search warrant for Flatten鈥檚 blood.

Another state trooper later went to the St. Cloud hospital, where Flatten was being treated, in order to obtain a blood sample. Flatten was advised of the warrant, but refused to provide either a blood or urine sample, according to the complaint.

Flatten also refused to provide a statement after being read his Miranda warning.

According to the complaint, the trooper smelt an odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from Flatten and observed he had slurred speech and bloodshot eyes at the hospital.

The unrelated lawsuit 鈥� filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota on behalf of Derrick Gilbert, 39, of Willmar 鈥� claims that Gilbert was stopped illegally in June of 2022 as he was walking to his workplace in Willmar. The lawsuit accuses Flatten of discrimination, false arrest and false imprisonment.

According to the lawsuit, Flatten arrested Gilbert in June of 2022, after Gilbert was misidentified as a different Black man for whom an arrest warrant had been issued. The misidentification was eventually determined, but Gilbert was arrested for obstruction. The charge was later dismissed.

The city and Flatten have denied the allegations of discrimination, saying in court documents that Flatten reasonably believed Gilbert to be the man named in the warrant.