Deputy wrecks 33 times in 17 years, but union fights for his job
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}As a law officer in Minnesota, former Todd County Deputy Sheriff Mark Grinstead didn't miss much.
After all, why try to avoid something when it's a lot easier to just hit it?
Grinstead, it must be said, hit many things -- deer, cows, trees, buildings and snow banks, for example. In 17 years, he had 33 wrecks.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Grinstead racked up about $100,000 in losses while patrolling the rural county roads.
A certified emergency vehicle instructor, Grinstead served as a Todd County field training officer, "working with less experienced Deputies familiarizing them with such duties as operation of squad cars under different conditions," according to state arbitration records.
No kidding.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}His record in the line of duty, while driving a patrol car, includes run-ins with 19 deer, a dog, pheasants, cows, a garage, a fence post and a raccoon.
After hitting a ditch and several trees in pursuit of a speeder in 2005, Grinstead wrote the sheriff: "I have to slow down," Grinstead was quoted in an arbitrator's account. "Being a pursuit-driving instructor, I have to set the example, not be the example ... I have learned that my crashes put a burden on the Todd County Sheriff's Office, are bad publicity and I should not need to swap squad cars with other Deputies."
As "squad car crashes increased notably" - four crashes in two months and three vehicles in the repair shop - Todd County officials fired Grinstead in May 2013.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Case closed? Not by a long shot.
Minnesota's biggest law enforcement labor union promptly filed a grievance with a state arbitrator.