Intoxicated horse rider arrested for giving false name to sheriff's deputies
NEW LONDON -- An intoxicated horse rider was arrested this week and charged with giving sheriff's deputies a false name because the rider knew he was wanted on a warrant from Stearns County and because he wanted to be able to attend his brother's upcoming wedding.
According to a criminal complaint filed in Kandiyohi County District Court, two deputies were called at 3:07 a.m. Tuesday to the 24900 block of Fifth Street Northwest, New London. The deputies were called to a report of individuals yelling for help.
Deputies discovered three individuals riding on one horse southbound on Fifth Street Northwest. The deputies observed there was a strong odor of alcohol while speaking to the individuals.
One individual was asked to identify himself and falsely gave a name of Christopher Michael Schmitz and date of birth of Dec. 16, 1980. The deputy checked the name and date of birth provided by Schmitz came back as not on file.
The three individuals reported they had been riding three different horses but two horses had run away. One individual said he had been bucked off and began screaming for help because he believed he was hurt from being bucked off his horse.
The deputies observed Schmitz was very intoxicated and was unable to track their conversations. The deputies became concerned that Schmitz would not be able to care for himself in his intoxicated state and decided to take him to detox. Schmitz began to struggle with the deputies and he was placed in handcuffs. While being transported to detox, a deputy asked Schmitz for his date of birth, at which time Schmitz gave his correct date of birth as Dec. 14, 1985, and then indicated his actual name was Cory Schmitz and that he had provided a false name because he knew Stearns County has issued a warrant for his arrest and he wanted to attend his brother's wedding.
On Wednesday, Cory Michael Schmitz pleaded guilty to a charge of giving a peace officer a false name. Judge David Mennis sentenced Schmitz to serve 90 days in the county jail, stayed 88 days for one year, gave the defendant credit for serving 2 days, placed him on supervised probation for one year and ordered payment of fine and fees totaling $190.