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The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is pulling a set of breathalyzer testing instruments believed to have delivered erroneous results in five counties.

Bureau officials announced Friday that they are asking local law enforcement agencies to temporarily stop using DataMaster instruments. The tools are used to conduct breath tests to determine a person’s blood alcohol concentration. But the BCA said in some cases, data entry errors in the breathalyzer’s gas cylinders potentially skewed results.

The agency will review data in each DataMaster’s gas cylinder to ensure it is accurate. And moving forward, the BCA will be responsible for all replacement and maintenance of the gas cylinders.

“The BCA is committed to the highest level of quality in our forensics lab and this is why we are conducting this review,” said BCA Superintendent Drew Evans. “We appreciate our law enforcement partners’ prompt attention to this inspection process.”

The agency said dozens of cases could be affected by the errors, including in Aitkin, Chippewa, Hennepin, Olmsted and Winona counties.

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The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension announced that it is asking local departments to suspend use of the instruments until they could be assessed. 

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Minnesota pulls breathalyzers for review after data entry errors reported

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