A drunk driver who led officers on a chase from Luverne into Iowa in May has been sentenced.

Thirty-four-year-old Thomas John Ranfranz, Hills, is serving a 54-month felony sentence at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in St. Cloud.

The incarceration stems from a May 30 drinking binge that ended in violence.

Court documents state that law enforcement was dispatched to the Verne Drive-In Theater on the night of May 30. The caller reported a male in a white convertible who was loud and appeared to be intoxicated. 

The man was also seen allegedly offering alcohol to his juvenile passenger.

When law enforcement approached the Drive-In, officers were informed the man had left, and they spotted him heading south on Highway 75.

Deputy Michael DeJong activated his squad lights after the car swerved over the centerline and over the fog line. But Ranfranz reportedly continued south and reached speeds of 70 mph with the deputy following.

The chase led officers into Iowa and back into Minnesota, where Ranfranz at one point stopped, but then rammed his car into a deputy’s squad and took off again.

A State Patrol squad ultimately initiated a “pursuit termination maneuver” spinning Ranfranz’s car around backward, and it rolled onto a yard in Ellsworth.

Ranfranz resisted arrest, kicking one of the Iowa deputies in the face, the report states. 

Ranfranz and his son, who was the passenger in the car, were taken to the Rock County Law Enforcement Center where the boy was picked up by his mother.

The complaint states that the child told officers he was scared and had tried to tell his father to stop for the police numerous times.

He said that they had been at multiple locations throughout the day and that his father had consumed alcohol periodically throughout the day. 

A search of the vehicle at the impound lot reportedly revealed numerous full, empty and partially full alcohol containers.

A review of Ranfranz’s driving history showed a prior felony DWI conviction in October 2007 in Rock County.

Charges filed June 1 against Ranfranz include:

1. Use of deadly force against an officer

2. Refusal to submit to a chemical test

3. Felony DWI (with a previous felony conviction)

4. Fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle

5. Fourth degree assault on a peace officer

6. Driving after cancellation, and

7. Open bottle.

According to the sentence order filed Aug. 17 in Rock County District Court, Ranfranz was convicted on two of the DWI charges and sentenced to 4½ years in prison.

This conviction reflects a probation violation related to the 2007 felony DWI, plus the new felony DWI conviction.

The sentence order states that he’ll serve a minimum of three years in custody, and 18 months of supervised release, assuming no disciplinary offenses.

He is ordered to pay fines and fees of $712.65 and to supply a DNA sample.