Fargo police arrested a woman who was driving on an emergency dike on Lindenwood Drive before midnight Sunday.
The woman, Vicki M. Bates, 49, of Dilworth, drove her van next to the dike along Lindenwood Drive from 17th Avenue South until the road was completely covered by the dike. She then tried to drive on top of the dike, according to a news release from Fargo police, but was unable to make the top of the 4-foot-high dike. She was then stopped by Cass County Sheriff's Department personnel who saw Bates driving while they were patrolling the dike. They held her until Fargo police officers arrived.
The dike was not damaged and was examined by engineers, the release stated.
If the woman had made it over the dike, she likely would have plunged into the icy waters of the swollen Red River, said Fargo police Capt. Tod Dahle.
"The likelihood of serious injury or death was pretty high," he said. "You wouldn't last very long in that water right now."
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Bates was arrested for drunken driving and for operating a vehicle on the dike.
