State trooper wrong; driver cleared

The Minnesota State Patrol announced Wednesday that it has reprimanded a state trooper who used her squad car to ram the van of a Hudson, Wis., man and then arrest him for fleeing.

A State Patrol review board concluded that while trooper Carrie Rindal had reason for heightened concern, ramming the van was not justified at the time or place she did it.

The board also found that the driver, Sam Salter, 40, who had his three young children with him in the van, was not "actively intending to flee" during the incident in St. Paul on New Year's Eve.

Col. Mark Dunaski, chief of the patrol, called it "a regrettable incident" that will be incorporated into a semi-annual training program all troopers will go through this year.

Rindal arrested Salter at gunpoint for fleeing, and took him to the Ramsey County Law Enforcement Center, where he was jailed for 37 hours. The county attorney's office later declined to prosecute.

The incident was first reported by the Star Tribune in February.

Salter said in an interview that he never attempted to flee and wanted only to find a safe place to pull over, but there was snow on the shoulder, and he did not want to be struck from behind. He was eastbound on Interstate 94 shortly before midnight when he saw the trooper's emergency lights. He turned off on Hwy. 61 and turned right onto Burns Avenue. He was pulling over when Rindal struck his van in what is known as a P.I.T. maneuver, which stands for pursuit intervention technique.

"I think there are some people might say, 'Well, gee, a letter of reprimand, that sounds like a slap on the wrist,'" said Dunaski in an interview. "Minnesota takes that very seriously. We don't hand out a lot of letters of reprimand." She will also get additional training, Dunaski said. The Patrol said Rindal declined to comment.

Salter said he appreciated the patrol's statement

"I feel they came to the right, logical decision," he said. "I think they came to the decision that I was indeed not fleeing. ... I spent two nights in jail for something I didn't do, and it should have been clear to them at the time."

Salter has discussed a relatively small settlement with the patrol, but gave no details.

Rindal's P.I.T. maneuver resulted in two dents with damage estimated at $2,200.

The patrol's Critical Incident Review Board, a seven-member body, found that one minute and 23 seconds elapsed from the time Rindal activated her lights to when she performed the P.I.T. maneuver.

Dunaski declined to say it was improper for Rindal to do a P.I.T. He said the problems were when she did it and where, and how the vehicle was struck. He said it should not have been done next to a snow bank or curb that could damage the vehicle.

"Part of the regrettable portion of this was that Mr. Salter had to spend two days incarcerated," said Dunaski, noting Salter was in jail all New Year's Day. He said on-duty supervisors will make inquiries in the future in such cases.

Dunaski praised Rindal, an 11-year veteran, for her work getting impaired drivers off the highway. He said that while a "poor decision," was made in this case, it should be seen in the context that it was New Year's Eve, and she was looking for impaired drivers. He said she saw traffic violations and that when she turned on the emergency lights, Salter did not stop.

Asked what drivers should do if a trooper is behind them, he said, "When you see a vehicle approaching with red lights and sirens, the driver's responsibility is to pull over immediately." He said law enforcement officers are trained to stop vehicles in places that are safe, and drivers should rely on the officers' judgment.