Cottage Grove man charged for fleeing DWI arrest

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A Cottage Grove man faces multiple criminal charges after police say he tried to flee while being apprehended for driving while intoxicated and then resisting arrest.

The Cottage Grove city prosecutor charged Justin R. Aasand, 34, with four counts after a police welfare check led to Aasand fighting officers’ attempt to detain him.

According to police reports and an order for detention filed in Washington County District Court:

Cottage Grove police were called at about 10:50 p.m. Nov. 13 to a home in the 8200 block of Jergen Avenue for a welfare check on a man, later identified as Aasand, who sounded very intoxicated and had made suicidal comments.

As police approached the home, they saw Aasand walk down the driveway, start his truck and rev the engine. Police told him to turn off the truck and step back to talk with them, but instead Aasand took off running, the report says.

An officer caught up to him and tackled him, but Aasand tried to get away and then refused police orders. Another officer used a stun gun on Aasand, and then they were able to handcuff him.

Aasand showed “overwhelming indications of alcohol impairment,” police reported, and was arrested on suspicion of second-degree drunken driving. He also was charged with obstructing the legal process with force, a gross misdemeanor, and fleeing a police officer on foot, a misdemeanor.

Aasand, who has an extensive criminal history including three previous drunken driving convictions, was booked into the Washington County jail after he was temporarily held at a Dakota County detox facility in Hastings following the Nov. 13 arrest.

Tags: crime and courts, updates, crime