A crash that left a motorcyclist in critical condition and led to a drunk-driving arrest occurred only hours after Sioux Falls police released statistics showing a sharp rise in DWI arrests.
When Sioux Falls Police Chief Jon Thum unveiled a biennial crime report highlighting an increase in impaired driving at City Hall on Tuesday morning, he was standing fewer than two miles from where authorities say 27-year-old Mel Joel Ruano Jr. caused a crash that has 39-year-old Jon Baumgartner clinging to life in an ICU bed.
“On an average night in Sioux Falls, our officers are running call to call,” Thum said during the semi-annual public safety briefing, which otherwise showed overall crime dropped across the city in the first eight months of 2026.
While drug seizures, assaults and stolen vehicle reports were all on a downward trend, DWI arrests were up by more than 33 percent.
“We are arresting a record number of people for DWIs this year,” Thum said.
According to Sioux Falls police data, officers recorded 714 DWI arrests from January through August, compared with 535 in the same period of 2025, which was on par with the prior half-decade. The 12-month average is 800 DWI arrests each year since 2021.
“I will be curious to see where this number lands, because it’s showing no signs of slowing down,” said the chief.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Highway Safety Grant funding marked for injury-accident prevention has aided heightened drunk driving enforcement as well, he said.
Ruano was booked on vehicular battery, driving while impaired (DWI), reckless driving, failure to yield and no insurance charges after the late-night crash at 17th Street and River Boulevard in central Sioux Falls.
Baumgartner remains hospitalized after undergoing emergency surgery after sustaining injuries that include brain trauma.
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