Charges: Drunk city council member fled police in minivan on wrong side of highway
A city council member is in jail, facing accusations he was drunk when he attempted to flee police while driving on the wrong side of a Twin Cities highway.
Tyler Kline, the Ward 1 council member for Robbinsdale, was charged in Hennepin County District Court Tuesday with felony fleeing police in a motor vehicle and two counts of gross misdemeanor DWI.
The criminal complaint alleges the 38-year-old was behind the wheel of a minivan that caused a wrong way crash on Highway 100 in Brooklyn Center, then intentionally drove around a squad car and back on the highway in an attempt to evade arrest.
Kline was booked into Hennepin County Jail at 2:21 a.m. Monday, and remained in custody Tuesday afternoon, according to jail records. He'll make his first court appearance Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. He was first elected to Robbinsdale City Council in 2021, according to his website bio.
Bring Me The News has reached out to Kline for comment.
Here's what the criminal charges allege happened:
Around 12:36 a.m. Monday, law enforcement learned of an accident at northbound Highway 100 near Brooklyn Boulevard that was caused by a driver in a gray Dodge Grand Caravan going the wrong way. The driver then continued to head southbound in the northbound lanes as he left the scene.
A Crystal police officer saw the van's driver re-enter Highway 100 — using the northbound exit lane to France Avenue N., while still traveling southbound. The officer turned on his emergency lights and tried to stop the driver, later identified as Kline. Kline then "made eye contact" with the officer, drove around the squad car and fled, continuing to go southbound on Highway 100 in the northbound lanes.
He evaded a first attempt by a Crystal police sergeant to stop him, and eventually exited Highway 100 at County Road 81. Officers eventually stopped him "by driving a squad car into [the] vehicle."
Kline then refused several orders to get out of the car. Officers physically took him from the driver's seat, They noted a strong smell of alcohol and said he had watery, bloodshot eyes as well as poor balance.
He provided a breath sample at New Hope Police Department, which at 1:22 a.m. came back with a BAC reading of 0.20.
