MINNESOTA CITY, Minn. – A deputy arrested a man in a pickup truck down in a Prairie Island ditch and who, when asked to step out of the vehicle, needed the deputy’s help to stand up straight. Charged with drunken driving was Joseph Bernard Diekmann, 34, of Winona. At jail Diekmann’s blood-alcohol registered at 0.28% — more than twice the allowable level for driving. A passerby had reported the pickup off the road about 7:50 p.m. and said the driver was attempting to drive himslf out but failing. The deputy arrived and found Diekmann unhurt behind the wheel but, the deputy said, very drunk. He smelled heavily of alcohol and had droopy eyelids, blood-shot and watery eyes, and slurred speech, the deputy said. Diekmann denied drinking or doping, but the deputy, concerned about substance poisoning, called an ambulance to take him to the hospital.
