Excelsior Man Charged with Felony After Refusing to Submit to Chemical Test

An Excelsior man is facing a felony charge after police say he was found unconscious in his car in Shorewood last weekend with a blood-alcohol content more than three times the legal limit.

Gary Lee Ezell, 32, is charged with refusal to submit to a chemical test, a felony with a maximum penalty of seven years in prison and a $14,000 fine.

Ezell remains in the Hennepin County Jail on a $60,000 bond. He is scheduled to make a first appearance on the charge Tuesday in Hennepin County District Court.

According to the criminal complaint, compiled by South Lake Minnetonka Police Sgt. Stephen Neururer, police were called to a Cub Foods in Shorewood on March 30 after someone reported a car parked in a handicapped spot, with the driver unresponsive and slumped over the steering wheel.

A witness told police that she saw the car hit the curb and then hit the sign that designated the handicapped parking spot. Police noted that the driver was holding the car keys in his hand; they had to pound on the window several times to wake him up, according to Neururer’s account.

Police detected the odor of alcohol on Ezell’s breath and noted that he was having trouble standing up, the complaint says. Ezell’s eyes were bloodshot and watery and his speech was slurred; officers declined to perform field sobriety tests because of concern about Ezell’s safety, according to the complaint.

A preliminary breath test showed Ezell’s blood-alcohol content at .25 percent, more than three times the legal limit of .08.

Ezell was taken to the South Lake Minnetonka police station, where he refused to submit to a blood or urine test, telling police that his lawyer advised him not to take such tests, according to the complaint.

Ezell’s criminal record includes DWI convictions in 2007 and 2008. His license was suspended last July after he was charged with DWI and refused to take a chemical test; that case is pending.