Sheldon, Iowa — A Sheldon man has been arrested on felony OWI charges after a traffic stop in town.
According to a criminal complaint filed with the O’Brien County Clerk of Court’s Office by the Sheldon Police, 34-year-old Christopher Wright of Sheldon is accused of driving drunk. He was arrested on Sunday.
In his statement, the officer says Wright was pulled over for speeding, and while the officer was talking with him, he noticed the smell of an alcoholic beverage, and allegedly Wright had bloodshot eyes and slurred speech, refused to sit in the patrol car, refused to spit out his gum, and refused a portable breath test. The officer says he also failed field sobriety tests.
Iowa’s implied consent law means that any person who operates a motor vehicle in the state agrees to have a blood, breath and/or urine test performed to determine alcohol level or presence of drugs, whenever a peace officer has reasonable grounds to believe the person is operating under the influence. If they refuse, the refusal could be used as evidence against them at trial.
Since he had been convicted on two earlier occasions, the OWI charge was raised to a class D felony. If convicted, Wright could face up to five years in prison.
He faces a preliminary hearing on the charges on July 10.
After being booked into the O’Brien County Jail in Primghar, Wright was released later that day, awaiting his hearing.
