Stillwater Police: Father Pushes Child in Stroller to Liquor Store with Unzipped Jacket, No Gloves, No Hat on Coldest Day of the Year

A 31-year-old Stillwater man allegedly registered a .26 blood alcohol content while pushing his 4-year-old child down Third Street in a stroller with an unzipped coat, no hat or mittens on the coldest day of the year so far.

It was 1 degree outside at about 6:18 p.m. Thursday when police were called to a report of a welfare concern involving a seemingly intoxicated man pushing his child’s stroller through downtown Stillwater.

A witness called police to say that he saw the man walking from the liquor store while pushing a stroller—stopping every 10 feet while traveling about 50 yards in 10 minutes.

The witness told police the man almost fell off the curb with the stroller a couple of times and at one point was nearly hit by a car while trying to cross Olive at Third Street.

At that point the witness lost sight of the man, and called police.

When police arrived, the officer made contact with the man near the .

The man told the officer he had just come from the library and was on his way home, the report states. The officer smelled an odor of alcohol on the man—and a preliminary breath test done on the scene revealed a .26 blood alcohol level.

While conducting a pat search, police found two bottles of ketchup in the man’s jacket—and a third in the stroller. The man told police he had ran out of ketchup at home, so he stole them from the in downtown Stillwater.

When asked where he had been drinking, the man said he was “sipping” out of 750-milliliter bottle of Karkov vodka while he was downtown.

Police then transported the boy and his father to the Stillwater Police Department until the officers could make arrangements to have the child picked up by a family member and the father taken to Detox.

The boy’s mother, who lives in Maplewood, was eventually contacted and she picked her child up at about 9 p.m.

While the child was in the stroller without a hat and gloves, the police report notes that the man had on two winter hats, gloves and a jacket.

The child was not in any distress, the report states. There were no obvious signs of frostbite or redness to his fingers or his face. The child had a hat with him, the report states, but was not wearing it.

While in custody, the child’s father was allegedly crying and apologizing to his son, of whom he has part-time custody.

The man was cited with theft of ketchup from Dairy Queen and having an open container of alcohol in public.

KSTP published the man's name in this report. Although his named appeared on police records, it is Stillwater Patch's policy not to name a suspect until they have been officially charged with a felony crime by the Washington County Attorney's Office.

The case was forwarded to Washington County social services and the county attorney’s office for review of possible child endangerment charges.