Wisconsin Woman Charged With Fleeing MN State Trooper, Refusing Blood Test

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — A Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, woman is facing a felony charge after authorities say she fled from a Minnesota State Trooper during a traffic stop in Minneapolis early Sunday morning and then refused a court ordered blood or urine test.

Jennifer Ann Donovan, 38, was charged Sept. 16 in Hennepin County District Court with fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle, a felony, and refusal to submit to a chemical test, a gross misdemeanor, according to a criminal complaint.

According to the complaint, a state trooper on patrol around 4:30 a.m. Sept. 13 spotted a black Cadillac with Wisconsin plates driving erratically near Washington Avenue and 2nd Avenue South and pulled the vehicle over.

The trooper said Donovan had bloodshot, watery eyes and rapid speech and told him she believed unmarked, tinted vehicles were following her. She denied drinking that night, then repeatedly said she wanted to call Gov. Tim Walz and have her father come to the scene, according to the complaint. She refused to get out of the car.

When additional troopers arrived and tried to box in her vehicle, Donovan hit the gas and rammed several squad cars before troopers were able to pull her from the vehicle, the complaint states.

She went limp and passively resisted as she was removed, authorities said.

A preliminary breath test showed a blood alcohol level of 0.000, leading troopers to suspect she was under the influence of another substance, according to the complaint.

A judge signed a search warrant for a blood or urine sample, but Donovan refused to provide one even after being told refusal was itself a crime.

Donovan was booked into the Hennepin County jail on the misdemeanor DWI charge and posted 12,000 dollars bond before prosecutors could add the felony fleeing charge, the complaint says.

A judge has since signed a warrant for Donovan's arrest with bail set at 30,000 dollars.

Conditions of release include no driving without a license, no drug or alcohol use, random urinalysis testing and no possession of weapons.

The fleeing charge carries a maximum sentence of three years and one day and a 5,000 dollar fine. The test refusal charge carries a maximum sentence of 364 days and a fine of 900 to 3,000 dollars.