Richfield Man Violates Protection Order, Gets Booked for Two DWI Counts

A Richfield man has been charged with violating a protection order that was issued after he tried to cut the victim’s throat earlier this year.

Patrick Sebastian Murray, 45, is charged with violating an order for protection, a felony with a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. He is also charged with second-degree DWI, a gross misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of a year in jail and a $3,000 fine, and fourth-degree DWI, a misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Brooklyn Park police were called to a home on 80th Avenue North on Nov. 2 on a report of a man continually ringing a doorbell.

When they arrived, police spotted a silver minivan with a man inside, parked on 80th Court. Officers approached the minivan, shone a light inside and found Murray in the driver’s seat.

An officer tapped on the window and identified himself, at which point Murray shifted the minivan into drive and began to drive away. The officer shouted at him to stop, but Murray accelerated and fled.

Officers checked the license plate of the minivan and discovered an active protection order prohibiting Murray from having any contact with a woman who lives in the area.

Police told the woman that Murray had been parked across the street from her house. She told them that she was afraid of him because he had tried to cut her throat in June.

The woman said Murray had called her several times earlier in the day, but she didn’t answer the calls.

An officer found Murray’s minivan elsewhere in Brooklyn Park and spotted Murray walking nearby. Police approached him and noticed a strong odor of alcohol and noted that Murray had bloodshot, watery eyes and poor balance, concluding that he was “extremely intoxicated,” the complaint says.

Murray was arrested. He refused to take a breath test, telling police that he hadn’t been driving, according to the complaint.

Murray’s criminal record includes domestic assault-related convictions in 2003 and twice in 2004.

Murray has been released from custody on a $20,000 bond. An omnibus hearing in his case is scheduled Dec. 11 in Hennepin County District Court.

Follow Richfield Patch on Twitter | Like us on Facebook | Sign up for our daily newsletter