William Boyce Varnadore, 35, has been charged with theft of a motor vehicle, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

According to the complaint:

On March 20, a Minnesota state trooper was on patrol in Sherburn when dispatch advised of a complaint of a blue van traveling at a high rate of speed and of a property damage hit-and-run accident involving the same vehicle.

The trooper activated her emergency lights and proceeded on I-90 toward Highway 15. As the trooper approached Fairmont, dispatch advised of another property damage crash occurring at the 99 exit off-ramp on I-90.

As the trooper arrived at the scene, she observed tire marks going into the ditch on the left side where a vehicle had struck a post and then come back onto the road. At the end of the trail sat a blue minivan matching the description of the vehicle involved in the complaints. There was a red pickup truck parked in front of the van.

A man, later identified as Varnadore, got out of the truck on the passenger side and walked toward the trooper. Varnadore was stumbling and staggering and pointed to the west saying he needed to pick up his wife at work. The trooper observed that Varnadore’s speech was slurred and there was an odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from him, and that his eyes were bloodshot and watery.

Varnadore told the trooper his identification was at home. He denied he had consumed any alcoholic beverages that day.

Varnadore agreed to submit to field sobriety tests, and it was determined he was impaired. Varnadore was placed under arrest and transported to the Martin County jail.

At the jail, Varnadore indicated he wished to speak with an attorney, and then told the trooper he would not be able to reach an attorney until Monday morning. Varnadore consented to giving a breath test, but on two attempts he did not actually blow into the machine. The trooper determined his actions to be a refusal to submit to the test.

The trooper later spoke with a man involved in the first crash involving Varnadore. The man said he was driving southbound on Highway 15 when he saw Varnadore approaching fast in his rear view mirror. He said the van suddenly ran into the back end of his vehicle and continued south at a high rate of speed.

The trooper also spoke with a woman who indicated that a few miles down the road on Highway 15, Varnadore’s blue minivan struck her vehicle. The force of the crash caused her vehicle to be disabled, and the van continued south without stopping.

The trooper later spoke to the registered owner of the van, who indicated Varnadore did not have permission to drive the vehicle because the tabs were expired and he had his own vehicle.

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