Sixth DUI charge for Moorcroft man

Ryan Petersen of Moorcroft has received a suspended sentence for a sixth offense of driving while under the influence of alcohol after law enforcement allegedly observed him driving erratically.

On December 8 at around 11:12 p.m., a Highway Patrol trooper was patrolling on U.S. 16 when he saw a vehicle travel across the center line and into the opposing lane of travel for a “significant distance”. It then allegedly crossed onto the opposing fog line before the driver corrected their behavior.

The trooper initiated a stop and immediately noticed the “very strong odor” of an alcoholic beverage, according to court reports. He also allegedly observed multiple alcoholic beverage containers on the passenger floorboard and saw that Petersen’s eyes appeared bloodshot and watery.

When asked how much alcohol he had consumed that day, Petersen allegedly said he had had “a few”. The trooper performed several field sobriety tests and, as a result of his performance, believed Petersen was impaired beyond the point of safely operating a vehicle.

Petersen was placed in the patrol vehicle and a portable breath test administered, which returned a preliminary reading of 0.19 percent. Petersen was placed under arrest and taken to the Crook County Detention Facility and a second breath test taken, which returned a 0.17 percent result.

Petersen pled guilty to driving while under the influence, fourth or subsequent offense, with three prior known convictions in Campbell County from 2010 and 2012, one from Pennington County, SD, in 2014 and one in Crook County in 2018.

He was sentenced to between 42 and 72 months in a state penal institution to be served concurrently with his sentence for the previous Crook County charge. All but 274 days of the sentence were suspended – with credit for 214 days served – pending successful completion of five years of probation.