MSP airport police back off on arrest of GOP chair candidate
Update:
Metropolitan Airport officials say police were acting on mistaken information when they arrested a business executive who is a top contender to be the new chair of the Minnesota Republican Party.
Airport police arrested Brandon Sawalich yesterday when he returned from a business trip for suspicion of trying to avoid paying the motor vehicle tax, which is a gross misdemeanor. Metropolitan Airports spokesman Patrick Hogan says a clerical error led officers to suspect the tabs had been expired for a year and a half, not for six months. He says Sawalich will be issued a ticket and that police will not pursue the gross misdemeanor charge. He says police did not overreact.
"They went on what they believed to be true. They believed at the time that there was enough evidence that there was an intent to avoid paying motor vehicle taxes to make the arrest. But after that happened we had a chance to look into it further and were able to clear up some of the discrepancies. "
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Original post:
The Minneapolis-St. Paul airport police arrested Brandon Sawalich last night for expired license plate tabs. The arrest data report said Sawalich was arrested for "Intent to Escape MV Tax, SS 168.35"
It isn't clear exactly why Sawalich was arrested for having expired tabs, but it's a gross misdemeanor offense. The police report has not been made available yet.
"I was placed under arrest for expired tabs," said Sawalich. "I was in disbelief and dumbfounded."
He said his assistant was driving his truck to pick him up when police stopped her. They waited for him to arrive and arrested him because the tabs were so far out of date. He said his truck had been in storage, and that's why the tabs had expired.
He says he's reconsidering his run for state party chair because he doesn't want his arrest to be a distraction.
Sawalich has been considered the leading candidate to replace Tony Sutton as chair of the Minnesota Republican Party. He was picking up significant endorsements from key Republicans including House Speaker Kurt Zellers, former House Minority Leader Marty Seifert and others.
He said he's re-evaluating his run for chair.
"I don't want this to be a distraction," he said.
Here's the initial Public Arrest Data from the Airport Police Department: