Sleeping man arrested for drug possession

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PIPESTONE — A Wabasso man arrested in Pipestone this week has apparently changed his ways. His last two felony arrests were for fleeing police in a motor vehicle, but Tuesday afternoon he was arrested for drug possession after a Pipestone County deputy found him sleeping in his car in a public parking lot.

Daren John Guetter, who served three years of probation after being charged in both Renville and Redwood counties in 2002 for fleeing peace officers in a motor vehicle in two separate incidents, is charged in Pipestone County with third- and fifth-degree controlled substance crimes.

According to the criminal complaint, a deputy stopped to check on the welfare of a man who was slumped over in a vehicle in a public parking lot in Pipestone at about 3:15 p.m. Approaching the vehicle, he noticed an open beer bottle on the floor of the front passenger seat. He grabbed the man’s arm, shook him awake and spoke with the man, who identified himself as Guetter, 28.

The deputy noted Guetter had bloodshot eyes and was talking very fast. He said he did not have a driver’s license with him. When he exited the vehicle when asked, the deputy noted a glass marijuana pipe on Guetter’s vehicle seat. He denied that the beer on the floor of the vehicle was his, stating it belonged to his girlfriend.

He agreed to take some field sobriety tests, exhibiting several signs of impairment. A pre-breath test showed a .000 blood alcohol content. But the deputy suspected Guetter was under the influence of something other than alcohol.

During a pat-down, the deputy located a methamphetamine pipe with residue in Guetter’s pocket. Another was found in the vehicle, along with two pipes with marijuana, several joints and a baggie of marijuana.

During an interview, Guetter claimed the marijuana and meth pipes were his and said he had used drugs the previous day. He said he had come to Pipestone at about 2 p.m. to drop his girlfriend off at the college. He had then gone to McDonalds, but his car had run out of gas, so he pushed it to where it was sitting and fell asleep.

He was supposed to pick up his girlfriend and her kids at 3 p.m., he said.

Tags: news, pipestone, crime, drugs, meth