Officer Michelle Coffey Arrested for Drunk Driving

A Coon Rapids police officer is scheduled to appear in court next month on suspicion of driving drunk while off duty two weeks ago.

Michelle Coffey, 43, was arrested April 10 after the vehicle she was driving was involved in a property damage accident in Ramsey and the responding officer detected a strong smell of alcohol on Coffey's breath, according to an incident report provided Tuesday by Ramsey police.

Coffey, a patrol officer, has been employed with the Coon Rapids Police Department for at least 15 years, according to Police Chief Brad Wise.

"She is taking this very seriously and will be taking proactive steps to address it," said Mike Brandt, Coffey's attorney.

The incident took place at 4:42 a.m. at the intersection of Sunfish Lake Boulevard and Nowthen Boulevard.

Coffey was reportedly traveling on Sunfish Lake Boulevard with a male passenger when she went to turn onto Nowthen Boulevard and pulled out in front of another car, the incident report said.

The other vehicle ended up hitting Coffey on the driver's side, causing heavy damage to both vehicles. Nobody was hurt.

Coffey, who initially told the investigating officer that she had not been driving, failed sobriety tests at the scene.

She recorded a 0.19 blood-alcohol concentration at the Ramsey police station.

She faces two misdemeanor charges of driving while intoxicated and is scheduled to be arraigned May 9 in Anoka County District Court.

Wise described Coffey as a "good person and a great cop" who has no sustained complaints in her personnel file.

She will remain on active duty as her case makes its way through the court system.

"She will respond to the citation and the courts will deal with it and, once that happens, obviously as an employer we will deal with it, also," Wise said. "She made a mistake and she needs to answer for that, but I hope she gets treated just like everybody else."