A St. Louis Park police officer has been charged with drunken driving and obstructing justice after Minneapolis police say she rammed her vehicle into a parked car, fled and refused to cooperate when she was stopped.
Chaunte Lee Ford, 27, was charged in Hennepin County District Court with drunken driving, colliding with an unattended vehicle, careless driving and obstructing the legal process. Ford has been with the St. Louis Park police department for six years, beginning as a community service officer and then a sworn officer for more than three years, according to a city spokeswoman.
She was placed on administrative leave following the late-night incident on Aug. 5.
According to the criminal complaint:
An off-duty Minneapolis police sergeant heard a loud crash around 11:15 p.m. on Aug. 5. Patrons of the nearby NE Palace bar told the sergeant that an erratic motorist had driven away after striking a vehicle parked at the intersection of Lowry and University avenues.
He noticed a car driving slowly on Lowry that appeared to be damaged and had an air bag deployed. Officers followed it until it stopped in a parking lot, halfway on a sidewalk. A woman, later identified as Ford, got out, unsteady on her feet and smelling strongly of alcohol, according to the charges.
As police approached her, Ford began "hysterically crying," saying that she was a cop and she was sorry.
When asked if she needed an ambulance, Ford became hostile and yelled obscenities. "[Expletive] the police! I [expletive] hate cops and I hate that I'm a cop!" she allegedly said. "All you guys do is harass black people!"
A breath test hours later measured her blood alcohol content at .20.
