MN Sheriff's Son Charged with Crash Involving Fire Truck

The adult son of Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek was cited last week for rear-ending a parked fire truck in Brooklyn Center, according to police reports.

Ryan Stanek, 23, also was cited for possession of a marijuana pipe. He’s had past run-ins with the law that have included traffic and substance issues.

According to a report from Brooklyn Center police, Stanek was driving a pickup truck when he hit the city fire truck in the 3900 block of 58th Avenue North around 1:30 a.m. on May 13. No one was seriously hurt, but police officers decided to perform field sobriety tests.

Stanek seemed erratic and frightened, and “became verbally aggressive” when they told him they’d be checking for weapons, but officers talked him down, the report said.

He wasn’t armed, but officers found pipes usually made for smoking marijuana inside the truck, along with plastic baggies containing a green leafy substance they believed to be the drug, the report said. Stanek willingly took a portable breath test, which showed no sign of alcohol.

Officers cited him for failing to drive with due care and possession of drug paraphernalia, both petty misdemeanors. He “should have reasonably been able to avoid the fire truck,” one officer wrote in his report.

Stanek pleaded guilty last year to driving while under the influence stemming from an incident in Maple Grove. His record also includes a few other marijuana and alcohol-related convictions, and a number of speeding and traffic regulation citations.

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