A 20-year-old Andover woman was charged in late January with several crimes after she called police to report a potential theft. Hopkins police say that an officer went to an establishment in Hopkins to investigate the alleged theft. The officer arrived at the Wild Boar shortly after 2:00 in the morning.
Police say the woman who reported the unspecified theft was ultimately charged with giving a peace officer a false name and birth date, presenting someone else’s driver’s license and underage drinking. Under Minnesota law, prosecutors can seek gross misdemeanor charges upon allegations that a person has given a police officer the name and date of birth of another person. Gross misdemeanors can expose a person to up to a year in jail.
Hopkins police say that the Andover woman spoke to law enforcement at the bar. The officer says the young woman was swaying during the encounter. Law enforcement claims the woman insisted that she was 21-years old, but claimed that she did not have an ID with her at the bar. The officer claims she produced a driver’s license when asked how she got into the bar.
Police claim the license she provided was not hers. Prosecutors claim in court papers that the woman later identified herself and verified her identity to police with an insurance card displaying her name.
The underage drinking and displaying a false identification charges are misdemeanors. However, prosecutors are seeking a gross misdemeanor charge against the woman for allegedly giving law enforcement the name and date of birth of another person as her own identity during the investigation, according to court records.
Source: Hopkins Patch, “Doh! Underage Drinker Hands Officer False ID After Reporting Theft,” James Warden, Jan. 25, 2012
