A River Falls father is accused of picking up his 10-year-old son from school while intoxicated last week, then fleeing police and resisting arrest.

Mark Kotowski, 51, is charged in Pierce County Circuit Court with attempting to flee or elude a traffic officer and misdemeanor charges of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated — his third such offense — and resisting an officer.

It was the quick thinking of the son — who locked Kotowski out of the car after he had stopped — that helped in his arrest, police said.

The episode began about 1:30 p.m. May 21 when a staff member at Rocky Branch Elementary School in River Falls told a school liaison officer that Kotowski had picked up his son and was possibly intoxicated, according to the police report.

The employee mimicked Kotowski’s poor balance for the officer, swaying back and forth, and noted Kotowski had just left, the police report said.

Officer Chris Gottfredson found Kotowski in a car parked directly behind the officer’s unmarked cruiser. Kotowski’s son was with him. Gottfredson approached Kotowski, identified himself as a police officer and asked him to get out of the car, court records show.

Kotowski said, “No,” and began driving away as Gottfredson warned him he would be pursued if he left, the report states. The officer got in his squad car and began following Kotowski’s 1993 Audi 100S.

A speeding Kotowski almost crashed into another vehicle before stopping near his apartment in the 900 block of State Street, according to the report. He then got out and began walking toward the front of the vehicle as Gottfredson ordered him to stop.

But Kotowski suddenly walked back toward the car and tried to get inside, only to find his son had leaned over and locked him out, the report said.

Kotowski continued to disobey orders and continued to resist even after Gottfredson used pepper spray to subdue him. Kotowski then walked toward his apartment. Eventually, with the help of an onlooker at the scene, Kotowski was brought outside, and officers arrested him, the report said.

Kotowski refused a preliminary breath test and later struggled with hospital staff and police as his blood was drawn, according to the police report. River Falls Police Chief Roger Leque said the results of the blood test were pending.

Leque said Rocky Branch Elementary School staffers should be commended for alerting police.

A call to Principal Chuck Eaton was not immediately returned.

Attempts to contact Kotowski were unsuccessful Wednesday.

Charged on Friday, Kotowski’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for Monday.

Andy Rathbun can be reached at 651-228-2121.