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Hennepin County sheriff's son arrested for New Year's DWI

Published  January 2, 2015 2:18pm CST
News
FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul

Among those arrested for DWI on New Year's Day was Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek's 22-year-old son, Ryan.

Maple Grove police arrested Ryan Stanek around 3:36 a.m. New Year's morning on the 8100 block of Shenandoah Lane. Witnesses called police after they saw him apparently vomiting outside the car, and worried he might become disoriented and freeze to death. Ryan Stanek had apparently been attending a house party on the quiet residential street.

According to Maple Grove police, when officers arrived, Ryan Stanek was slumped over in the parked vehicle and was arrested after he refused to take a breathalyzer. He was issued a ticket for 3rd-degree DWI refusal.

"My son is an adult and he is accountable for his actions," Sheriff Rich Stanek said in a statement to FOX 9 News. "As parents, we are supportive of him during this difficult time."

It's not the first time the sheriff's son has been in trouble recently. Maple Grove Police questioned the younger Stanek on December 3, after they got a call of suspicious activity in a McDonald's parking lot. Ryan Stanek and three other young people were seen passing something back and forth between vehicles in the parking lot. A witness thought they were smoking drugs. Ryan Stanek and the others claimed it was an e-cigarette. The police report said officer didn't smell any drugs and told the suspects to leave and not loiter in the parking lot.

In September, Ryan Stanek was charged with felony damage to property stemming from an April incident in Three Rivers Park. He and several friends allegedly went mudding in the rain-soaked park, damaging a horse trail when his truck became stuck.

In May 2012, Ryan Stanek and two friends were ticketed for marijuana possession after police were called to the Maple Village Apartments at 9220 Zanzibar Lange. Officers found a small amount of marijuana in the glove box of Ryan Stanek's vehicle. On June 14, 2014, Ryan Stanek paid a $178 fine for marijuana possession, a petty misdemeanor.