Apple Valley Police Bust Farmington Man for 6th DWI

A Farmington man is facing his sixth DWI charge after Apple Valley police caught him swerving on Galaxie Avenue last week, driving onto sidewalks and over curbs, according to a Dakota County criminal complaint.

Craig Michael Van Dam, 29, was arrested early Wednesday and charged with four felonies: first-degree DWI, first-degree DWI with a blood-alcohol content over .08 percent, felony first-degree DWI with a prior felony conviction and first-degree DWI with a prior felony and a blood-alcohol content over .08.

Van Dam also faces a gross misdemeanor charge of driving after his license was canceled.

He faces a maximum penalty on each of the felonies of seven years in prison and a $14,000 fine. The gross misdemeanor charge carries a maximum penalty of a year in prison and a $3,000 fine.

According to the complaint, an Apple Valley police officer saw Van Dam near 152nd Street and Galaxie, driving in the center of both southbound lanes on Galaxie. The officer started following Van Dam and watched him swerve within his lane and hit or drive over the lane dividers several times.

Van Dam entered the traffic circle on 153rd Street and made a right turn without signaling, at which point the officer turned on his emergency lights, the complaint says. Van Dam then turned right into a parking lot, went up over several curbs and onto a sidewalk before he corrected himself, according to the complaint.

The officer approached Van Dam’s car and smelled alcohol. Van Dam’s eyes were bloodshot, glassy and watery, and his speech was slurred, the complaint says.

Van Dam told the officer he’d had one beer, and consented to field sobriety tests. He failed those tests and a preliminary breath test and was arrested, the complaint says.

Van Dam’s criminal record shows convictions for fourth-degree DWI in Hennepin County in 2002; DWI, open bottle, possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia in Scott County in 2006; second-degree DWI in Hennepin County in 2009; first-degree DWI, careless driving and driving after cancellation in Dakota County in 2009; second-degree DUI in Hennepin County in 2010; and driving after his license was canceled in Dakota County last September.

During an initial court appearance Friday, Van Dam was ordered held without bond in the Dakota County Jail. He is scheduled for a probation violation hearing May 23 in Dakota County District Court in Hastings.