WINONA, Minn. – It happened right before a sheriff’s deputy’s eyes: A motorist drove into a lamp post at Sanborn and Center streets and snapped it off. This was about 2:55 a.m. Codie Alexander Meinen, 22, of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, initially refused a blood-alcohol test. Later at the police station a test found less than 0.08% blood-alcohol, which is less than the threshold for drunkenness. Meinen was was released to a sober adult to drive him home while police pondered whether to file a damage to property complaint.
