Crime & Safety

Suspected Drunk Driver Leads Police on High-Speed Chase

Peter Ford Benton, 49, is charged with fleeing an officer, fourth degree DUI and driving without a valid license, and has been convicted of other drunk driving-related offenses in the past.

An Apple Valley man faces multiple criminal charges after he allegedly fled a traffic stop after getting pulled over for suspicion of driving drunk, and led on a high-speed chase for several miles.

Peter Ford Benton, 49, is charged with felony fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle, gross misdemeanor driving after canceled license (inimical), and fourth-degree DUI and driving without a valid license, both misdemeanors.

The maximum combined penalty for the charges is four years, six months and one day and a $10,000 fine.

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According to the criminal complaint, at about 1:15 a.m. April 9, a Rosemount police officer saw the vehicle in front of his car on Hwy 3 drifting and jerking in its lane.

The officer pulled over the vehicle, and when he got out to approach the vehicle, the driver drove away. The officer followed the vehicle south on Hwy 3, where the chase reached 110 miles per hour, the complaint says.

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The vehicle was improperly changing lanes, driving over curbs and into oncoming traffic, and nearly hit two vehicles while passing them during the chase, the complaint says.

After the vehicle got to 195th Street West, the driver stopped and pulled over, and the officer allegedly identified him as Benton. The officer reported smelling alcohol emanating from Benton, and said Benton's eyes were bloodshot and watery and his speech was slurred, the complaint says.

The complaint says the officer found that Benton's Minnesota license was canceled, inimical to public safety, and that an Arizona license had been revoked.

Benton allegedly declined a breath test but agreed to a blood test, which was sent to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for testing, the complaint says.

Benton remained in Dakota County Jail on $50,000 bond on Tuesday, and is scheduled for a hearing in Dakota County Court on May 8.

In Minnesota, Benton was convicted in 2009 of driving after cancelation and in 2001 of DWI. He was found guilty twice in 1994 of driving with a blood-alcohol content over .10, Minnesota court records show. 

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