Man arrested for DWI days after appearing in court intoxicated

• Timothy Nolan Christle

Timothy Nolan Christle

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WORTHINGTON — Four days after showing up in court with a .04 blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level and being ordered to abstain from alcohol, Timothy Nolan Christle, 36, of Adrian, was behind bars for driving while impaired.

Last week, Christle appeared before Judge Timothy Connell on firearms charges. The previous week, Christle made a court appearance with an alleged .30 BAC and Judge Jeffrey Flynn sent him to jail. The Adrian man was required to pay $6,000 bail in order to be released.

His conditions of release included remaining law abiding and abstaining from drugs or alcohol.

Saturday evening, Adrian Police Chief Shawn Langseth received a phone call from a source who said Christle had just driven down the road in another man’s truck with his girlfriend in the passenger seat. The witness reported seeing Christle driving through the elementary school parking lot.

Within two minutes, Langseth received a call from an off-duty Adrian Police officer, who said Christle has just driven past within eight feet from where he was standing. The officer reported Christle had driven at an unsafe speed through the gravel parking lot of the Adrian Government Center.

While Langseth was looking for Christle and the white pickup, he received another call — this time from a man who said he and some friends were sitting on a front lawn when Christle drove past at a high rate of speed in a white truck and ran a stop sign. One of the witnesses followed Christle to a local convenience store and confronted him.

Christle’s girlfriend allegedly convinced him to leave, the witness said, and the two of them drove off in the pickup with her behind the wheel.

Langseth went to the home of the man who owned the pickup Christle was allegedly driving and spoke to Christle, his girlfriend and the truck owner. Christle denied driving the truck, stating his girlfriend had been driving. He then admitted he had driven to the intersection of Nevada Avenue and Fifth Street, and said his girlfriend had driven from there.

In his report, Langseth stated he could smell a strong alcoholic odor coming from Christle, who also allegedly had bloodshot eyes and was unsteady on his feet. After he failed several field sobriety tests, Christle was arrested and taken to the Prairie Justice Center. His breath test came back as .27 BAC.

Christle was charged Monday with two counts of driving while impaired. Additional charges for violating his conditions of release and driving after revocation may be pending.

While following up on the report Sunday, Langseth went to the truck owner’s residence to impound the license plates from the vehicle. Christle’s girlfriend answered the door and, after being informed Christle had stated she was driving the truck the day before, told Langseth Christle needed to “man up” and quit blaming her for his problems.

A hearing Monday resulted in a $12,000 bond, alcohol monitoring and random testing.

Christle has cases pending for impersonating an officer, reckless discharge of a firearm and felon in possession of a firearm. He has previous convictions for theft, forgery, escaping from custody, assault and receiving stolen property.

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