Felony Filed Following BUI Stop on Lake Minnetonka

An Eden Prairie man has been charged with first-degree DWI after being stopped by a water patrol unit on Old Crystal Bay.

Officers first approached Garrett Makepeace Proteaux’s boat for a routine craft lighting infraction. A criminal complaint filed this week says officers immediately detected a strong smell of alcohol, and Proteaux allegedly failed a batter of sobriety tests.

Proteaux has several previous DWI convictions, the most recent in 2006, which aggravated the most-recent charge to a first-degree offense.

 Ramped up patrols targeting impaired boaters on regional waters, to include Lake Minnetonka, are scheduled for this weekend.

“There will be arrests this weekend, and some boaters will face the consequences of boating under the influence,” said Col. Jim Konrad, DNR Enforcement Division director.

Thirty-percent of Minnesota boating fatalities in 2010 involved the use of alcohol.