NORTH BRANCH, Minnesota — On the night of December 4, Sgt. Kyle Puelston with the Chisago County Sheriff's Office was working an extra patrol shift — part of the MN Toward Zero Deaths initiative.
Sgt. Puelston was in his squad car on the side of the road near St. Croix Trail and Hemingway Avenue in North Branch, finishing some notes on a traffic stop he had just completed, when a Dodge Ram pick-up truck rear-ended him.
"The force was so strong. At first I had no idea what happened and then I just remember hitting my head on the ceiling of the squad car and getting bounced around inside of it," Sgt. Puelston recalled.
Sgt. Puelston estimates the driver was going about 60 miles per hour when she crashed into his squad car.
He had been working a MN Toward Zero Deaths traffic enforcement shift — focused on finding drunk drivers.
"Ironically, one found me," Sgt. Puelston said.
According to a criminal complaint, Jessica Kepner of North Branch admitted to consuming four shots of alcohol and stated she was "not okay to drive." The criminal complaint states Kepner provided a preliminary breath test of .273 alcohol concentration — more than three times the legal limit to drive.
"I've been diagnosed with a concussion. One of the things I want people to know is if you see on a press release that the officer or deputy's been released from the hospital, it doesn't necessarily mean that everything's fine and they're going to be back to the road because I'm still dealing with symptoms from the concussion. I'm not back to work," said Sgt. Puelston, adding that he's now easily fatigued.
For Sgt. Puelston, it's personal in more ways than one. In 2004, a drunk driver killed three of his friends, brothers Matthew, Jacob and Justin Backstrom.
Sgt. Puelston served as a pallbearer in their funeral and said every time he takes a drunk driver to jail, "they've come into my memory that this is the toll or the price that's paid because some people choose to drive drunk."
According to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, DWIs are down this year at 21,894 compared to 26,668 at this same time in 2019.
Speed-related traffic fatalities are up with 111 so far this year compared to 70 during the same time frame in 2019 and overall traffic fatalities are also up.
While there have been fewer DWIs reported so far this year compared to last, law enforcement often see a spike in drunk driving during the holiday season.
"That's why we're out there around the holiday season is because we do see those spikes with drunk drivers and that's why I was out there that night," Sgt. Puelston said.
He went on to say, "If you're going to go out during the holidays, have a plan before you stick those keys in the ignition."
Kepner is charged with one count of Criminal Vehicular Operation, a gross misdemeanor. The Chisago County Attorney said additional charges could be added once the results of her blood draw are received.