Minnetonka Man Refuses Breath Test After Wandering at Ridgedale

A Minnetonka man has been charged with felony drunken driving after police say he wandered around looking for his girlfriend, then refused to submit to a breath test after getting into his car and starting the ignition.

Nikolay Vasilevich Stupak, 44, is charged with first-degree driving while intoxicated for refusing to submit to take a test. The charge is a felony because Stupak has three previous DWI convictions – two in 2010 and a felony conviction in 2011.

According to the criminal complaint, Minnetonka Police were called to Ridgedale on July 22 after security officers there reported an intoxicated man on the premises.

Security officers told police that Stupak, who smelled of alcohol and appeared intoxicated, was wandering around the mall’s center court, looking for his girlfriend. A security guard told him he would keep an eye out for the woman, and Stupak left the building, stumbling on his way out, according to the complaint.

Two officers followed Stupak to his car and watched as he got in and started the engine. When the officers approached the car, Stupak turned off the ignition, states the complaint.

Minnetonka police conducted field sobriety tests on Stupak and arrested him for drunken driving. He refused to submit to a breath test.

Stupak remains in the Hennepin County Jail on a $60,000 bond. An omnibus hearing in his case is scheduled Aug. 14 in Hennepin County District Court.