25PM, Trooper Jepson of the Minnesota State Patrol received a report that a tan 1998 Buick Century had entered an active construction zone at 10665 Highway 29 in Douglas County. The vehicle sideswiped a dump truck, ran over construction equipment, and left the scene northbound toward Alexandria. A Douglas County deputy later located the vehicle in Alexandria, and it initially failed to stop. However, it eventually pulled over on 10th Avenue, where the driver was identified as PATRICIA ANN PETERSON [DOB REDACTED]. Deputy Lentsch reported PETERSON was agitated, denied doing anything wrong, and that he could smell an odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from her.
Trooper Jepson also detected this odor. However, standardized field sobriety tests did not provide sufficient clues for an impairment arrest. Trooper Jepson photographed PETERSON’s car and noted fresh scratches and a folded-in but functional passenger-side mirror, consistent with construction workers’ reports of side damage. The construction manager showed Trooper Jepson a phone video depicting PETERSON’s vehicle in the construction site. It further showed a worker standing beside the vehicle with his arm extended and hand raised to signal her to stop as she continued backing, turned around, and drove over a pile of underground plastic piping before exiting through the ditch, and re-entering Highway 29 without stopping.? At the construction site, which was marked by cones for approximately one-quarter mile on each side and contained large equipment, multiple work vehicles, and workers actively engaged in construction, a dump truck driver stated PETERSON’s vehicle turned into the driveway and side-swiped the passenger side of his dump truck with enough force that he felt the truck move.
The Job foreman stated that after striking the dump truck, PETERSON ignored his hand signals to stop, ran over an underground wire locator, and continued across an area where a trench had been started. A civil engineer stated he attempted to stop PETERSON near the residence, had to move out of her path to avoid being hit as she maneuvered around equipment, and watched her drive over plastic piping before leaving. Trooper Jepson observed and photographed a scrape on the dump truck’s rear passenger-side tire and the damaged underground wire locator, identified as a VM 850 Metro Tech, Model VM850RX, serial number 21601080352, with a reported replacement value of approximately $4,000.? Peterson left the construction site without stopping to provide identifying information or notify the owner or person in charge of the damaged property and was contacted only after being located by law enforcement in Alexandria.
