Charges: Mankato man accused of 4th DWI was 3x’s the legal limit

Investigators say a Mankato man accused of drunk driving for the fourth time was at more than three times the legal alcohol limit.

Manuel Delgado Martinez, 26, was charged with felony DWI in Blue Earth County Court for the November 9 incident.

A criminal complaint says a Minnesota State Patrol trooper discovered a car with flat back tires stopped on the side of the road after he was advised of a vehicle driving erratically near Highway 22 and Victory Dr.

The trooper saw Martinez, who was wearing a high visibility vest reaching into the driver’s side of the vehicle and noted an open half bottle of tequila.  Martinez claimed he was not driving, according to the complaint.

A witness who saw the vehicle go through a red light on Victory Dr described how the car hopped the median and entered a parking lot.  The witness said the driver was wearing a high-visibility vest.

The complaint says a preliminary breath test put Martinez’s blood-alcohol level at .25, over three times the .08 legal limit to drive in Minnesota.

Martinez has three previous DWI convictions in Nebraska from 2017, 2019, and 2020.