State Patrol: 424 arrested for DWI on MN roads over St. Patrick’s weekend

There were more than 400 drunken driving arrests made in Minnesota over the St. Patrick’s Day weekend. The State Patrol says 424 were arrested for D-W-I–that’s a 28-percent increase–up from 175 last year. State Patrol Lieutenant Robert Zak says it’s frustrating and “these types of events are 100% preventable–the message is out, everybody knows they shouldn’t be drinking and driving, you talk to anyone of your friends or relatives, they’ll say the same thing, ‘we shouldn’t drink and drive,’ people know it, the word is out, the messaging is there, but people are still making bad decisions.” Zak says one reason the numbers were likely so high this year is that St. Patrick’s Day fell on a Saturday. So far this year, 5,579 have been arrested for D-W-I on Minnesota roads.