An Eden Prairie police officer was honored last week for making three DWI arrests during a single shift — a feat known in law enforcement circles as a “Hat Trick.”
Officer Chad Streiff received a personalized hockey stick from Bill Hammes, law enforcement liaison with the Minnesota Office of Traffic Safety, in recognition of his May 7-8 shift. The acknowledgment was announced in a June 30 blog post by the Eden Prairie Police Department.
The first arrest occurred at about 7:30 p.m. on May 7, when Streiff stopped a vehicle near Interstate 494 and Highway 62 after it came to a halt in a crosswalk. The driver, who smelled of alcohol and had watery eyes, admitted to drinking. A preliminary breath test showed a blood alcohol content of 0.08 – the legal threshold for DWI in Minnesota. Streiff arrested the driver on suspicion of fourth-degree DWI.
Roughly two hours later, Streiff pulled over a second driver who had also stopped inside a crosswalk. The officer reported smelling burnt marijuana and noted that the woman behind the wheel had bloodshot eyes. She admitted to smoking an hour earlier. Streiff, a certified Drug Recognition Evaluator, conducted a sobriety test and secured a warrant for a blood sample to determine if she was impaired. A bag of marijuana was recovered from the vehicle. Charges are pending based on results from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension lab.
Streiff’s third arrest came later that evening after he noticed a vehicle with a broken taillight. A records check revealed the registered owner didn’t have a valid driver’s license. After pulling the vehicle over, Streiff observed watery eyes and detected alcohol. The driver registered a 0.08 blood alcohol content on a breath test and was also arrested for fourth-degree DWI.
According to the department, Streiff has made 24 Hat Tricks, two “Grand Slams” (four DWIs in a shift), and one “Ace” – five arrests in a single shift – since August 2018. He currently serves as the department’s full-time DWI officer, a position funded by a Minnesota Department of Public Safety grant.
“Because our officers can’t be everywhere, we rely on other drivers to be an extra set of eyes for us,” the department said. If you see a possible impaired driver, police encourage you to pull over or have a passenger call 911 and report the vehicle’s location, license plate number and observed dangerous driving behavior.
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