A repeat DWI offender known for his “Catch Me If You Can” antics is facing criminal charges after being pulled over due to a canceled license. During this stop, it was discovered that the man was drunk and so he proceeded to tell the police officer to “catch me if you can” and then drove away.
Rosemount resident James Hoff, 35, is charged with a gross misdemeanor of driving after a canceled license and felony fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle.
The criminal complaint states that on August 3rd about 12:30 a.m., a police officer in Lakeville ran the license plate of a vehicle traveling northbound on Cedar Avenue around 164th Street West. It was then that it was discovered Hoff was driving on a canceled license. This was because the license plate number on the car matched the information for Hoff.
The officer pulled Hoff over in which he determined it was, in fact, Hoff driving the car. He proceeded to run Hoff’s license through the computer. When he returned to Hoff’s car, the officer alleges that Hoff said “catch me if you can” and drove off very fast. A short time later, police found Hoff’s car abandoned.
It was just before 8 a.m. that police went to Hoff’s home, found him, and took him into custody. While in custody, he allegedly told the police that he was stupid for the actions that he had committed, and didn’t want to go back to prison. He said he ran from the officer because he was driving drunk and knew it would cause him to be back behind bars.
