Charges: Innocent driver clings to life after a fleeing unlicensed truck thief causes pileup in Becker

A man with a penchant for driving despite having his license revoked has been charged with fleeing a sheriff’s deputy in a stolen pickup truck while high and causing a multi-vehicle crash in Sherburne County that critically injured one of the other motorists.

Bradley Alfred Allen Johnson, 21, of Montrose, Minn., was charged Tuesday in District Court with one count of causing great bodily harm while fleeing police and various other counts in connection with the four-vehicle wreck midafternoon Saturday in Becker, Minn., on Hwy. 10 near Liberty Lane.

Johnson remains jailed in lieu of $100,000 bail. He’s due back in court on July 17. A message was left Wednesday with his attorney seeking a response to the allegations.

At the time of the crash, Johnson was driving after having his license revoked by the state, a Department of Public Safety spokesman said.

Court records show that he’s been convicted three times this year for the same offense, twice in a one-week span in May. He’s also been convicted twice this year for driving without insurance and was caught twice last year for speeding.

While still at the scene, Johnson admitted to ingesting heroin about five hours earlier, according to the criminal complaint. A law enforcement search of his clothing turned up drug paraphernalia, the complaint continued.

Saturday’s wreck put 36-year-old Christopher James Vyskocil, of Becker, in North Memorial Hospital with life-threatening injuries that include severe head trauma, according to the State Patrol. Vyskocil remained in critical condition Wednesday afternoon.

Sarah Colford, a friend of Vyskocil’s wife, posted on an online fundraising page started to help the family, that “a person running from the police caused a horrific accident, causing Chris — her husband, on their wedding anniversary — to be airlifted to the hospital.”

According to the charges:

A sheriff’s deputy spotted a pickup truck that was reported stolen as it headed out of St. Cloud on eastbound Hwy. 10. The deputy activated his squad’s emergency lights and siren and started pursuing the pickup at speeds topping 100 miles per hour.

After entering Becker, the deputy saw that the pickup had struck a gasoline pump at a Speedway at Hwy. 10 and Liberty Lane.

A state trooper arrived and spotted Vyskocil’s badly damaged car on westbound Hwy. 10. An unconscious Vyskocil was in the vehicle. An SUV was in the same lane as Vyskocil’s car. That driver survived her injuries. Johnson also suffered noncritical injuries.

A motorist outside his SUV at the gas station said he saw the pickup “flipping towards him at a speed he estimated at 50 to 60 mph,” the complaint read. He said he ran from his vehicle just before it was struck by the pickup.

Along with the one count of causing great bodily harm while fleeing a peace officer, Johnson is also charged with two felony counts and two gross-misdemeanor counts each of criminal vehicular operation, receiving stolen property and fleeing a peace officer.