A 43-year-old motorist was drunk last week when he crossed the centerline of a southwestern Minnesota highway and collided head-on with an SUV, killing the second driver and seriously injuring two other people , according to charges.
Kaw La of Marshall, Minn., was charged Monday in Lyon County District Court with criminal vehicular homicide and criminal vehicular operation in connection with the collision Friday that killed Shawn M. Lemburg, 29, of nearby Walnut Grove.
La, who suffered minor injuries, appeared in court Monday and remained jailed Wednesday in lieu of $60,000 bail. He was scheduled to return to court May 17. Court records did not list an attorney for him.
According to the charges:
Joshua Tolley, 33, a passenger in Lemburg's SUV, told a state trooper that he and his partner were heading south on Hwy. 23 northeast of Marshall about 8:10 p.m. when La's pickup truck suddenly crossed the centerline. Tolley said Lemburg had no time to react and avoid the collision.
La told the trooper that he had a small amount of beer that evening. The trooper saw three cold bottles of beer in the pickup, and one of them was empty. A preliminary breath test at the hospital showed La had a blood alcohol content of 0.15%, nearly twice the legal limit for driving in Minnesota.
Tolley's family said the crash left him with broken legs, a fractured wrist, bruised lungs and facial cuts that needed stitches.
A passenger in La's pickup, Nay Moo, 30, of Springdale, Wash., also was severely injured.
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