County man threatens Sheriff's Office deputy

A Crook County resident faces felony charges after being arrested for driving under the influence and allegedly threatening to cause bodily harm to a law enforcement officer.

On the evening of December 6, a Crook County Sheriff’s Deputy was traveling south on Pine Ridge Road when he observed some debris in the southbound lane of travel. He pulled over, activated his emergency lights and removed the vehicle.

As he did so, he reports that an ATV approached from the north and came to a stop behind his vehicle. The driver, identified as Franklin Oplinger, dismounted from the ATV and allegedly staggered after doing so.

The deputy reports seeing a child on the back of the ATV who was not wearing a helmet as required by law. As the two men approached one another, the deputy reports smelling a strong odor of alcohol.

When asked how much he had had to drink, Oplinger allegedly responded that he had had “two beers.” He was asked to perform standardized field sobriety testing but, as the deputy began instructing him for a third test, Oplinger allegedly “became argumentative.”

Oplinger was placed under arrest and put in the patrol vehicle. He allegedly advised that he was teaching the child how to drive the ATV.

The deputy reports that he was unable to locate a certificate of insurance for the ATV. The child was handed over to an adult family member and Oplinger was transported to the Crook County Detention Center.

During the journey, Oplinger allegedly became verbally abusive and stated that, if he lost his job, the deputy would “lose his life” and stated in different ways that he was going to cause harm to the deputy.

Breath samples taken at the jail returned a blood alcohol count of 0.18%.

Oplinger faces a felony charge of influencing, intimidating or impeding officers, as well as misdemeanor counts of driving while under the influence (second offense, with one known prior offense in Lawrence County, SD, in 2017), abandoning or endangering a child and operating a vehicle without liability insurance.