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Cottage Grove bus driver charged with DWI after alleged 0.28 BAC

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Published  May 7, 2025 3:16pm CDT
Crime and Public Safety
FOX 9

The Brief

    • A 36-year-old Hastings man is accused of showing up for his shift as a Cottage Grove school bus driver drunk.
    • Joshua Nathaniel Lueth was charged with two counts of second-degree DWI.
    • Charges say he had a blood alcohol content of .289 - more than three times the legal limit for driving in Minnesota.

COTTAGE GROVE, Minn. (FOX 9) - A 36-year-old Hastings man is accused of drunk driving after showing up for his shift as a bus driver for Park High School in Cottage Grove, more than three times the legal limit, according to charges filed in Washington County Court.

Joshua Nathaniel Lueth was charged with two counts of second-degree DWI and obstructing the legal process in connection with the incident, which happened in February.

Showing up to work drunk

The backstory:

According to the charges, a school resource officer at Park Cottage Grove High School was notified by a special education coordinator at 3:09 p.m. on Feb. 26, 2025, of a possible drunk driver in front of the high school.

The driver, later identified as Lueth, was on a school bus and the teacher was trying to prevent him from leaving. The school resource officer made contact with Lueth, and an assistant principal at the school had concerns about Lueth.

The complaint states the officer asked Lueth if he had driven the bus to school. He didn’t answer, later stating he "has a job" and told the officer to leave him alone as he had to finish the last half of his route.

Lueth showed signs of being impaired, according to the charges. He was arrested for DWI, and refused to perform field sobriety tests.

A .289 blood alcohol level

What we know:

Authorities were working to obtain a fluid test from Lueth when he got up to walk toward a sink. He was told to sit down, refused and demanded water.

The complaint states Lueth then tried to spit in an officer’s face. A blood test showed Lueth had a blood alcohol level of .289 - more than three times the legal limit for driving in Minnesota.

School officials had concerns about Lueth after he showed up and parked the bus in a non-bus lane, and had slurred speech when asked if he was going to help load wheelchairs on the bus.

Court records show Lueth had a previous operating while intoxicated arrest from a Dec. 14, 2024, incident in Pepin County, Wisconsin.

The Source: Charges were filed in Washington County Court.

Crime and Public SafetyCottage GroveMinnesotaRoad incidents