BENSON - A man involved in a drunken high-speed chase who allegedly repeatedly rammed his vehicle into Swift County Sheriff John Holtz’s squad car pleaded guilty Tuesday to multiple charges.
Douglas Alan Young, 49, of Dent, had originally been wanted on a Otter Tail County warrant for violating an order for protection.
After the March 19 chase, he faced two charges of felony second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, felony first-degree damage to property, a felony for fleeing an officer in a motor vehicle and two gross misdemeanor charges of driving while impaired.
In his Tuesday plea deal in Swift County District Court, a second-degree assault charge was dismissed, and another was downgraded to gross misdemeanor fourth-degree assault. One driving while impaired count was dismissed.
The criminal complaint on the charges says a deputy had stopped Young’s vehicle in Danvers after receiving a report he was in the area and spotting the license plate.
Young pulled his vehicle to the side of the road, but as soon as the deputy exited his squad car, Young allegedly put his vehicle back into gear and drove off.
That led to a 12-mile pursuit beginning on 90th Avenue Southwest, at speeds of 60 to 75 mph, until Young turned into a family member’s driveway on the 900 block of 20th Avenue Southwest.
According to the criminal complaint, Young drove into the driveway and open garage at 10 mph, crashing into the back of an unoccupied skid loader. While deputies attempted to direct Young out of his vehicle for about 20 minutes, more backup law enforcement arrived.
Young reversed out of the garage, heading directly for a deputy’s squad car which had been positioned behind him.
The deputy moved his vehicle out of the way to avoid getting hit. Sheriff Holtz moved his own squad car forward with his lights and sirens on to block Young from leaving.
That’s when Young allegedly put his car into reverse and backed up, before accelerating forward directly towards the sheriff’s vehicle and hitting it.
While Young attempted to push the sheriff’s squad car with his own vehicle, the sheriff held the breaks and pinned Young’s vehicle in place.
Young reportedly reversed his vehicle and accelerated forward several more times, attempting to push through the squad car before allowing deputies to arrest him.
The sheriff’s squad car sustained over $2,000 worth of damage in the incident, according to the criminal complaint.
In a hospital evaluation following the incident, Young allegedly admitted to drinking half of a bottle of alcohol. A preliminary breath test showed Young had a blood alcohol level of 0.25 percent, over three times the legal limit for driving in Minnesota.
Young is set to be sentenced on the charges June 24.
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