Friday Fallout: How Do You Get 28 Minnesota Drunk Driving Arrests?

Everyone in Minnesota must know it’s illegal to drink and drive, but the state still ranks as one with the worst drunk driving problems in the USA. After reading about one resident’s Minnesota drunk driving arrests, you’ll really wonder what he could possibly be thinking when he continually gets behind the wheel drunk.

One man in New York Mills, Minnesota has just been arrested on his 28^th driving while intoxicated (DWI) charge. It’s hard to believe how someone, no matter what state they live in, could possibly get arrested on the same charge so many times, but Danny Bettcher has managed to hit the double digits for DWI.

He’s 64 years old and has a long history of being in trouble for DWI. His latest arrest came after police spotted him swerving all over the road. When they pulled him over they found an empty beer can on the seat, and although he refused to submit to a breathalyzer, he told them he was way over the legal limit and to just take him to jail.

It wouldn’t be the first time he saw the inside of a jail cell. He’s been in prison for prior Minnesota drunk driving arrests, serving four years in 2010. He’s also been ordered to go into treatment 12 times and spent a long time on probation.

When he was stopped for his latest DWI arrest he had a valid but restricted driver’s license. The restriction was that he not use any type of drug or consume alcohol while driving.  In Minnesota that means he should also have been driving with an ignition interlock device, but the arrest report doesn’t indicate why he didn’t have one installed.

Not everyone manages to rack up 28 drunk driving arrests during the course of their lifetime, and it’s a miracle that he hasn’t died in a car crash or killed someone else. Let’s hope this offender gets the help he needs and that jail time, treatment, and eventually, a restricted driver’s license including an ignition interlock are what he needs to finally drive sober.

The Friday Fallout: Every Friday Guardian Interlock will bring you a unique drunk driving case that demonstrates the impact, or fallout, of drunk driving.