KANDIYOHI COUNTY, Minn. — Editor's Note: The above video first aired on 8/12/2024.
A former Kandiyohi County Deputy has pleaded guilty to driving under the influence when he crashed his squad car back in July.
According to his plea deal, 39-year-old Christopher Flatten was sentenced to 90 days in jail, 90 days stay of execution for two years and he will pay a fine of $300.
According to the Kandiyohi Sheriff, Flatten resigned from his position as a deputy on Oct 7.
Prosecutors had said law enforcement was dispatched to a rural area on County Road 4 just before 6:30 p.m. on July 18. A 911 caller told dispatchers that a squad SUV had rolled several times, was sitting in a field, and that the uniformed deputy inside was unresponsive.
Two Minnesota State Troopers arrived on the scene and found the 2018 Explorer heavily damaged and resting on its side. They extricated the driver, soon identified as Deputy Flatten before he was airlifted for medical treatment.
A witness told investigators that he was driving in a semi and headed eastbound on U.S. Highway 12 when he saw a squad vehicle turn onto the highway without stopping at a stop sign. The trucker followed the squad down Highway 12, noting that the vehicle was "all over the road," at times being over the center line by as much as three-quarters of the Explorer and then swerving onto the grass of the shoulder. This reportedly continued until the squad turned southbound on Kandiyohi County Road 4.
A second witness who was traveling towards County Road 4 told troopers he saw the squad leave the road and hit the ditch, rolling the vehicle five or six times.
Based on their descriptions of what happened, one of the state troopers obtained a search warrant for a sample of Flatten's blood. Investigators went to the medical facility where the deputy was being treated and told him that refusing to provide a blood or urine sample was a crime. According to the complaint, Flatten refused to provide a sample and would not provide a statement about what happened. While speaking with Flatten troopers noted that he smelled of alcohol, his eyes were bloodshot and glassy and his speech was slurred.