Tuesday was a mixed-bag for Winnipeg Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien. On the bright side, he earned two assists during the Jets’ 6-1 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets in the NHL’s preseason return to Winnipeg. His Tuesday didn’t start out so well, though, as he received four charges related to an intoxicated boating arrest he received on Aug. 31.
A strange detail emerged, however: Byfuglien passed a breathalyzer test at a level of .031 percent, which is less than half of the legal limit. The Winnipeg Free Press obtained documents that might illuminate the issue, though: a police expert judged some of Byfuglien’s symptoms as a sign that he might have been “high on drugs.”
Despite that legal breathalyzer reading, Byfuglien reportedly failed field sobriety tests. He was placed under arrest and taken for further questioning, but refused to provide a sample of his blood or urine, which counts as an automatic offense that carries a maximum penalty of a year in jail.
Mike McIntyre shares more details from the police report.“Mr. Byfuglien stated that he had taken a muscle relaxer earlier that day, but that he could not remember the name of the muscle relaxer,” the police report said. “Mr. Byfuglien stated that he takes a ‘handful’ of supplements from 16 or 17 different bottles every day and that he does not know the names of the supplements.”
Byfuglien then refused to give a blood or urine sample, which is an automatic offence by law.
The drug recognition expert noted there was a mysterious “distinct brown stain on his tongue,” which police noted in their report. Police also say his eyes were glassy and showing a “lack of smooth pursuit” which, combined with the other factors, led to a belief he was “under the influence of a controlled substance and was unable to safely operate a watercraft.”
Along with refusing the blood and urine test, Byfuglien faces a maximum sentence of 90 days for the other charges.
Byfuglien’s first court date is set for Oct. 21. That might be doable (if a bit of a challenge), as the Jets have a break in between games in Ottawa on Oct. 20 and a contest in Winnipeg on Oct. 22. It’s unclear if he could request that the court dates be deferred until after this season, which was what Nikolai Khabibulin did with his extreme DUI situation (which happened in 2010 but wasn’t resolved until this summer).
Either way, we’ll keep an eye out for updates regarding this troubling situation.
