WINONA, Minn. — Police smashed a window on a stopped car to drag out the driver who had refused to exit the vehicle. The arrest of Robert Lee Maringer Jr., age 49, of Winona, involved seven officers. This was at U.S. Highway 61 61 and Orrin Street near the Hy-Vee grocery. The incident began about 3:30 p.m. when, according the police report, Maringer failed to signal a turn and strayed out of his lane. The officer detected indicators of drug impairment — bloodshot eyes with pinpoint pupils shaky hands, and fumbling for documents. The officer asked Maringer to exit the vehicle. He refused. The officer called for back-up. Once Marger was dragged from the vehicle, officers found brass knuckles and 0.55 grams of a white powdery substance in his pockets. In a briefcase was a 9-mm handgun. At the jailhouse the powdery substance tested as meth and cocaine.
Maringer. Booked for possessing illegal drugs, possessing a firearm without a permit, transporting a firearm in a motor vehicle, obstructing police. Tentatively pending urine tests at an independent lab: : Impaired driving.