DWI charge: One wild ride on a mower in Hutchinson

By PAUL WALSH, Star Tribune

Last update: April 11, 2009 - 7:36 AM

A 42-year-old man is accused of being drunk while driving his riding lawn mower to a SuperAmerica in Hutchinson, Minn., buying beer and then zigzagging along city streets on a ride that included a public display of bladder relief.

Darwin L. Christensen, of Hutchinson, was charged Friday in McLeod County District Court with drunken driving and urinating in public. A breath test indicated that his blood alcohol level was 0.21 percent, far above the legal limit for driving.

State records show that Christensen has pleaded guilty at least four times to drunken driving, twice each in 1986 and 1996. His rap sheet also includes convictions for disorderly conduct, fleeing a police officer, felony property damage and felony burglary.

According to the criminal complaint, police received a report about 6:20 p.m. Thursday of a suspected intoxicated man driving a lawn mower. The witness reported seeing the man buy beer at a SuperAmerica, then head north on School Road.

The man was seen running over two orange cones, swerving within his lane and changing speeds.

After turning onto N. High Drive, police said, he stopped, got off the mower and urinated on the side of the road while throwing a beer can into the ditch, then resumed his mower travels into a mobile home park.

Police said when they approached Christensen outside, he had alcohol on his breath, and was stumbling and slurring his speech. He admitted that he had just been at the store with his mower and had urinated in public, according to the complaint.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482