An International Falls officer helping conservation officers look for deer hunters on a snowmobile trail stopped an Anoka man on an ATV instead, according to the complaint.
Mark Edward Fields, 53, is charged in Koochiching County District Court with felony refusing a breath test with aggravating factors (a maximum of seven years in prison, a $14,000 fine or both) and two gross misdemeanor license-restriction counts (364 days in jail, a $3,000 fine or both each). The complaint cites two earlier felony DWI convictions. The alleged offenses date to Nov. 7 and the complaint was filed Nov. 10.
The officer was on the trail inside the city limits about 10:37 a.m. Nov. 7 when he saw Fields driving the ATV, the complaint says. After the stop he found that Fields’ license required an ignition interlock device and that any use of alcohol or drugs invalidated it. Fields smelled of alcohol and had bloodshot watery eyes. He could not complete a standard field sobriety test, according to the complaint.
As the officer was getting a portable breath test device Fields said, “I’m not taking that,” the complaint says. It says he added that the officer already knew he had alcohol on his breath. Fields was told that refusing the test is a crime.
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One license-restriction count says he drove without a working ignition interlock device. The other says he drove in violation of a restriction against consuming any alcohol.
