A 43-year-old man was drunk when he crashed his vehicle late at night in Lake Elmo, killing one of his passengers, according to a felony charge.
Authorities ID man killed in Lake Elmo crash caused by suspected drunken driver
Officials say his blood alcohol content was more than twice the legal limit.
June 11, 2019 at 6:27PM
James L. Lohr of Lake Elmo was charged in Washington County District Court last week with criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the wreck that killed a 31-year-old man sitting in the back seat.
Lohr remains free on bail ahead of a June 17 court appearance. Court records do not list an attorney for Lohr, and messages left Monday with him seeking a response to the allegations have not been acknowledged.
According to the criminal complaint:
The vehicle came to rest next to a tree about 12:10 a.m. in the 900 block of N. Lake Elmo Avenue, across the street from the Cimarron Golf Course.
Lohr and one of his passengers were standing outside the wreckage and alerted sheriff's deputies to the injured passenger in the back seat.
Emergency medical personnel took the man to Regions Hospital, where he died. Authorities on Tuesday identified him as Bunpot Makmeetanagunchon and said he was from Thailand and visiting a relative in White Bear Lake.
Sheriff's Cmdr. Doug Anschutz detected the odor of alcohol coming from Lohr, who said he had two glasses of wine about an hour earlier.
In a preliminary breath test, Lohr's blood alcohol content was 0.189%, which is more than twice the legal limit for driving in Minnesota.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
