Man charged in January with vehicular criminal homicide arrested for DWI

Published 4:51 pm Tuesday, February 21, 2023

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An Austin man who was charged with vehicular criminal vehicular homicide in January, has been arrested again for DWI.

Darin Douglas Finley, 36, of Austin, was charged Tuesday with one count of gross misdemeanor DWI-refusing to submit to a chemical test and one misdemeanor count for driving after suspension.

Finley was charged in early January with two counts of felony vehicular homicide in connection to the death of 41-year-old Melissa Rack, who he allegedly struck on Dec. 30 and then fled the scene.

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Rack was pronounced dead at Mayo Clinic Health Systems-Austin.

According to the court complaint, Finley was arrested late Sunday night after leaving a residence in the area of 13th Avenue NE, called in by a resident of the house he left.

A Mower County deputy observed a vehicle matching the description traveling north on Fourth Street NW. The deputy trailed him to a residence in Mapleview where he made contact with Finley and allegedly noted slurred speech, sluggish movements and the smell of alcohol. Finley also allegedly stumbled before being given field sobriety tests. The deputy asked if he would consent to the tests, to which Finley allegedly replied that he was “fine to drive” with slurred speech.

A search warrant was issued for the defendant’s blood or urine, however, Finley allegedly refused to provide a blood sample.

Finley’s next court date is a pretrial for both this and the homicide case on June 2. He is currently scheduled to stand trial for both on June 12.