Charges filed against Chatfield officer in alleged DWI

Charges have been filed against a Chatfield, Minnesota, police officer who is accused of crashing his car while driving under the influence, according to court records filed on Friday.  

The suspect, identified as 61-year-old Kenneth Gallion, around midnight Thursday near West 94th Street and Lyndale Avenue South in Bloomington, Minnesota. Police Chief Book Hodges said Gallion had finished an off-duty job at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds.

According to the criminal complaint, officers were called to the scene after someone reported an SUV, which had been driving very fast, had gone airborne. The caller also stated they believed the car had struck a nearby building. 

Officers found the car in a parking lot. Both the front and back tires on the driver's side were flat, according to the charging documents, which also said Gallion told officers that he was not injured and had stopped to use the bathroom.  

The charging documents go on to say that officers could smell a strong odor of alcohol on Gallion's breath and noted that conversation was difficult as Gallion was taking a long time to answer questions and was slurring his words. 

At the time of the accident, Gallion was wearing his full uniform, including his gun. Bloomington officers were able to secure the gun in one of their squad cars, per the complaint. Gallion was also unsteady on his feet and told officers "he didn't know where he was, and believed he may be in Rochester," according to court documents. 

Bloomington officers performed several field sobriety tests on Gallion and noticed that Gallion had difficulty with them. Gallion agreed to a breath sample and blew a 0.273, which is more than three times the legal limit. 

"I've never seen this before in my career and God-willing I never see it again," said Hodges on Friday. "Most of us would be passed out at a .16 or something. Once you get to .30, there are very few people who can actually function." 

Officers took Gallion into custody, he chose not to speak with an attorney. 

Court records show that he has a hearing scheduled for next next month. 

The above video originally aired on May 22, 2026