Repeat Offender Arrested After Wrong-Way Clay County Chase
BY MN CRIME STAFF
A Clay County woman is facing new charges after a wrong-way pursuit on Highway 10 early Sunday that ended with a .17 breath test and a second-degree DWI arrest.
The case adds to 26-year-old Destiny Nicole Weaver’s history of fleeing and alcohol-related arrests stretching back more than five years.
A trooper was dispatched around 1:34 a.m. Dec. 7 after multiple callers reported a dark SUV traveling the wrong way at highway speeds on a one-way section of Highway 10. Trooper Gruver responded with his lights and sirens activated and found the SUV still heading in the wrong direction. The trooper had to move out of the way to avoid being hit head-on and another squad in the area also had its lights and sirens on when the SUV drove past.
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Trooper Gruver said he tried again to get ahead of the SUV, but the driver went into the ditch to get around him and continued forward. The vehicle finally stopped only after the trooper positioned his squad in front of it for the third time.
The driver was identified as Weaver, who told the trooper she had consumed a few drinks. The trooper reported that her eyes were bloodshot and watery, with her speech slurred. A horizontal gaze nystagmus test showed all six clues of impairment. Other field tests were not conducted because she was wearing only a thin sweater and temperatures were below zero. A preliminary breath test reportedly measured .15.
Weaver was arrested and taken to the Clay County Jail. She agreed to a breath test after being read the implied consent advisory. That test, completed at 2:47 a.m., showed a .17 result. Prosecutors have charged her with two counts of second-degree DWI and felony fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle.
Court records show Weaver has a previous DWI conviction from 2022 in Becker County and an implied consent revocation from July 22, 2020.
She was also charged in 2020 with DWI and felony fleeing, but those charges were dismissed after the Dilworth officer who handled the case left the department and could not testify.
That 2020 incident gained statewide attention due to an officer-involved shooting in Glyndon. According to a Minnesota Department of Public Safety summary from July of that year, Glyndon Officer Matthew Tri attempted to stop a vehicle on Highway 10 around 1:24 a.m. The driver, identified as Weaver, fled at speeds near 100 miles per hour. She drove through fields before getting stuck and being taken into custody. During the pursuit, Officer Tri approached the vehicle and fired his weapon, though neither Weaver nor her passenger was hit. A Clay County deputy transported her to jail, where she refused additional impairment testing after acknowledging she would not pass.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigated the shooting and Officer Tri was placed on administrative leave.
Weaver also has a 2022 Becker County burglary case involving a home invasion and assault. That incident began around 11:15 p.m. on April 25, 2022, when Detroit Lakes officers were sent to Apex Court for a 911 call reporting a disturbance. A caller reported someone being chased with a vehicle, and a blue PT Cruiser involved in the incident was later found stuck at the end of the street.
Officers found three women walking nearby, one holding a small child. At the residence, a woman told officers that Weaver, Julia Hairy Byrd and Debra Humphrey walked into her unlocked home without knocking while she was seated on her couch holding her two-year-old. She reported that one of the women punched her while the others held her down before joining in the attack. She said that after the assault, they went outside and that Weaver then tried to run her over with the PT Cruiser.
Officers observed redness on the victim’s face, strands of her hair on her arm and the couch, and furniture pulled away from the wall. A male witness’s statement matched hers. Video from a neighbor showed the three women getting out of the PT Cruiser, entering the home without permission, and later returning outside as yelling continued. The neighbor also reported seeing Weaver reverse the vehicle toward the victim, who had to move out of the way to avoid being hit.
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Officers identified the three women as Weaver, Hairy Byrd and Humphrey. Hairy Byrd was holding her 14-month-old son. Officers said Weaver and Hairy Byrd smelled strongly of alcohol. Their statements about why they went to the home and how the PT Cruiser arrived conflicted, though Weaver later admitted she was buying the vehicle. Hairy Byrd said her child had been buckled inside it and Humphrey confirmed Weaver had been driving.
Weaver showed multiple signs of impairment during sobriety testing and blew a .15 preliminary breath test. She later agreed to a breath test at the jail that measured .13. Weaver was convicted of burglary of an occupied dwelling and of driving with an alcohol concentration of .08 or more within two hours. Both convictions were later deemed misdemeanors under state law. The remaining charges in that case were dismissed.
Weaver now faces new second-degree DWI and felony fleeing charges tied to the wrong-way pursuit. The case remains open in Clay County District Court.
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