A Wadena man was charged with a fifth-degree controlled substance crime, but police didn't arrest him on the spot for having drugs -- they got him to the emergency room.
Shortly before noon on Nov. 13, a caller reported an intoxicated man in a Wadena business parking lot. When police arrived, they found the man, Eugene Francis Schwab, 41, inside the store sitting near a check-out lane, according to Wadena County court documents.
During a pat-down, police allegedly found a Ziplock bag containing methamphetamine. But when police administered a preliminary breath test, Schwab blew a dangerous 0.444 blood alcohol level, five-and-a-half times the legal intoxication level. He was taken to the hospital and to detox.
Schwab was charged Feb. 25 with the drug crime, and a hearing has been set for March 16.
