Drunk driver was 4x’s the legal limit when he went off-road on Highway 22, say charges

Police say a drunk driver was four times the legal limit when his car went off-road in Mankato last month.

Prince Chimary Gideon, 39, of Mankato, was charged with two counts of gross misdemeanor DWI Monday in Blue Earth County Court.

A criminal complaint says the Minnesota State Patrol was dispatched just after 8 p.m. February 11 to a vehicle that had gone off-road on Highway 22.

Gideon was identified as the driver and sole occupant of the vehicle.  The complaint says he smelled of alcohol and had bloodshot, glassy eyes.

Gideon allegedly told the trooper he had just bought groceries and was headed home but the complaint says there were no groceries in the vehicle and Gideon was traveling in the opposite direction of his home.

Police say Gideon had difficulty removing his driver’s license from his wallet and showed signs of impairment during field sobriety tests. A portable breath test at the scene showed a blood-alcohol concentration of .32.

A test administered at the Blue Earth County Jail about an hour later put Gideon’s blood-alcohol content at .29.

The complaint says Gideon has one prior DWI conviction from 2019.