Two arrested for DWI

Talk about it

A 29-year-old Minneapolis man who had a few drinks and got into an argument with employees at a Castle Rock Township business attracted the wrong kind of attention from police earlier this year.

The Dakota County Sheriff’s department got a call around 1 p.m. May 20 that the man, later identified as John Francis Nies, had been drinking and had just left the business. A sheriff’s deputy found Nies’ pick-up truck a short time later and followed him up Highway 3 to about 170th Street, where Nies pulled over and parked.

According to a complaint filed in the Dakota County Attorney’s office Nies said he’d stopped because he assumed someone at the business had called to report him. He admitted being argumentative with the employees and said he’d had four beers over the course of a few hours while working on his truck.

According to the complaint there was an empty 16-ounce beer can in the truck and another, about half full, under the driver’s seat.

A breath test indicated Nies was over the legal limit for driving. Nies was convicted of driving while impaired in 2004. He has been charged this time with two gross misdemeanor DWI offenses. Each carries a maximum sentence of one year and a maximum fine of $3,000.

Woman arrested after accident

A Lakeville woman who apparently had a little too much to drink and ended up in a snowbank last January faces gross misdemeanor DWI charges for refusing to take a breath test.

A Dakota County Sheriff’s deputy found Laurie Ann Schemionek, 47, in the ditch along a Eureka Township road on Jan. 13. According to a complaint filed in the Dakota County Attorney’s office her speech was slurred and her eyes were bloodshot. Schemionek reportedly told the deputy she’d had “a little bit” to drink.

Schemionek failed field sobriety tests, and a preliminary breath test showed a blood alcohol content greater than .20. She refused to take a more conclusive test.

If convicted on the gross misdemeanor charge Schemionek could face up to one year in jail and finds of up to $3,000. A separate misdemeanor DWI charge carries a maximum sentence of 90 days and a maximum fine of $1,000.

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