Man arrested for 12th DWI on New Year's Eve, another for his fifth

PARK RAPIDS -- A Becker County man was arrested by Park Rapids police minutes before midnight on New Year's Eve for his 12th impaired driving offense.

William Lawrence Butcher, 48, was to appear today in Hubbard County District Court on a first-degree felony driving while impaired charge.

Court records indicate Butcher was arrested three other times in 2009 for drunken driving offenses and a fourth time for drug possession. He has 11 prior DWI convictions dating back to 1980.

He was driving without a valid license when he was arrested by Park Rapids police four minutes before midnight on Dec. 31. The police report indicates he was urinating on the roadside just west of the city.

A second Park Rapids man, David Abiel Fraki, 66, was arrested during a fight in the parking lot of a bar early Sunday after police chief Terry Eilers said he sideswiped a squad car and nearly struck a Hubbard County deputy who responded to the call. He is also charged with first-degree driving while impaired.

"He's got five prior DWIs," Eilers said of Fraki.

Sarah Smith is a reporter at The Park Rapids Enterprise, which is owned by Forum Communications Co.