Charges: Edina personal injury attorney was drunk when he hit I-35 worker, was found 35 miles away

A prominent Edina personal injury attorney was drunk when he struck a highway construction worker with his car in east-central Minnesota and then left the scene before being located roughly 35 miles away, according to charges filed Monday.

James Carey was charged in Pine County District Court with two gross-misdemeanor counts of criminal vehicular operation, another gross misdemeanor alleging he left the scene of a crash involving injury, and misdemeanor driving while under the influence of alcohol in connection with the incident, which happened late Friday morning on the right shoulder of Interstate 35 near Hinckley.

Carey, 64, was arrested by law enforcement that afternoon and was released Monday without posting bail ahead of a Dec. 28 court appearance. Conditions for his release include that he abstain from alcohol or illicit drug use and agree to random testing for drinking or illegal substance use.

A message was left Monday afternoon for Carey's attorney seeking a response to the allegations.

The worker, 27-year-old Joseph G. Flanagan, of Duluth, was hospitalized in nearby Sandstone, the State Patrol said. The criminal complaint said he suffered severe bruising and swelling to an arm that was hit by the SUV.

Carey is president and managing partner of SiebenCarey, the "Know Your Rights" firm that counts tens of thousands of clients over its 71-year history.

SiebenCarey released a statement over the weekend that read, "We are deeply saddened to hear of this incident. Our thoughts and prayers are with the injured worker, and we wish him a speedy recovery. We are working our way through the facts as they become available, but our primary concern remains for the well-being of all involved."

According to the firm's website, Carey focuses on cases involving traffic incidents, medical malpractice, nursing home negligence and abuse, and catastrophic personal injury.

According to the charges:

A trooper responding to the report of a crash located Flanagan down in a ditch. He had on a high-visibility vest and was walking on the dirt portion of the interstate when he was struck by an SUV.

Tire tracks in the dirt indicated to the trooper that the driver then got back on the road and continued north. A piece from the SUV at the scene was a match for the year, make and model that Carey was driving.

A woman in a vehicle heading in the same direction said the SUV ahead of her "was going on the shoulder to pass slower traffic in front," the charges read. She said the SUV passed one of two vehicles before hitting the worker.

A Carlton County sheriff's deputy spotted the SUV, its passenger-side mirror missing, on I-35 near Moose Lake. Carey was stopped by law enforcement and smelled of alcohol.

Carey explained that he thought he hit an orange sign. He said that he would have stopped immediately if he had known he hit someone.

He said he hadn't been sleeping for a few days because of a death in the family. He said he had been taking sleeping pills and had three glasses of wine the previous day.

A preliminary breath test measured his blood alcohol content at 0.143%, more than 1.5 times the legal limit for driving in Minnesota.

After earning his undergraduate degree from St. John's University in St. Joseph, Minn., in 1982, Carey joined SiebenCarey as a law clerk and researcher. He received his law degree in 1987 from William Mitchell College of Law in 1987 and became an attorney for the firm in 1987, then managing partner in 2008.