A 66-year-old Burnsville man is facing criminal vehicular homicide charges after tests showed he had a blood alcohol level more than three times the legal limit following a July car crash that fatally injured a 65-year-old Champlin man, according to charges filed Wednesday in Benton County District Court.
Charges: 66-year-old's BAC was 3 times the legal limit in crash near St. Cloud that fatally injured man
The victim, a 65-year-old visiting his cabin, died from injuries a week later.
Paul J. Bergman faces two felony counts of criminal vehicular homicide, as well as one gross misdemeanor count and one misdemeanor count of drunken driving in relation to the death of John P. McIntyre, described by his wife as a "jack-of-all-trades" who had recently retired from Home Depot.
"He was a handy person. He could do anything. We never had to hire anyone to do anything in our house," said Doreen McIntyre, a longtime nurse at Children's Hospital.
Doreen said she and John had spent the July 4th week at their cabin, which they lovingly called a "shack," on Little Rock Lake near Rice. On July 7, Doreen went home to Champlin to get a start on laundry and take a bath, she said, and John went out to eat at a restaurant near St. Cloud.
While driving back to the cabin just after 10 p.m., John McIntyre was struck head-on by Bergman's vehicle near Ninth Avenue SE. in Rice. Officers stated it appeared Bergman's vehicle crossed the centerline before the crash, court documents state.
An officer on scene said Bergman "was mumbling, began to doze off, and also noted an odor of alcohol coming from the vehicle," according to court documents. An analysis by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension showed Bergman had an alcohol concentration of 0.272%, more than three times the legal limit of 0.08%.
McIntyre suffered a broken leg and pelvis and was taken to St. Cloud Hospital, where he died on July 15. The medical examiner's report lists blunt force injuries as his cause of death, documents state.
Doreen said her husband adored his family, including his only granddaughter Wren, as well as the family dogs and their shack on the lake. He and Doreen didn't wait until retirement to travel to Europe and Mexico, but had plans to visit Japan and possibly purchase a motorhome to tour the country with the dogs after Doreen retired.
"We knew we had to live every day to its fullest so we always traveled, but we were going to travel more," Doreen said. "But one of the things I feel the saddest about is not being able to have our granddaughter grow up with him."
Court documents do not list an attorney for Bergman and attempts to reach him Friday were unsuccessful. Bergman's first court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 19.
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