Drug and alcohol impairment were factors when an unlicensed SUV driver hit a Roseville family’s stalled car on a Lake Elmo highway and killed a 5-year-old girl, according to charges.
Charges: Unlicensed driver was impaired when he hit stalled car on Hwy. 36, killed child
The 47-year-old driver from St. Paul was driving more than 60 mph when he struck a stalled vehicle from behind, according to the State Patrol.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
August 20, 2024 at 1:46PM
Jeffrey Dean Alexander Jr., 47, of St. Paul was charged Monday in Washington County District Court with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the wreck on Jan. 20 in the left lane of eastbound Hwy. 36. Morgan Petersen, a passenger in the stalled vehicle, was killed.
Alexander was charged by summons and is due in court on Oct. 2. Court records do not list an attorney for him. A message was left Tuesday with Alexander seeking a response to the allegations.
At the time of the crash, Alexander’s license had been revoked since March 2021 in response to a drunken driving citation in Wisconsin.
In Minnesota, Alexander has been convicted three times for driving with a suspended license and once for hitting a vehicle from behind in May 2023 that had stopped at a red light in St. Paul.
According to this week’s charges and a related court document, officers arrived about 8:45 p.m. to the crash scene, at Hwy. 36 and Lake Elmo Boulevard, and determined that an SUV struck a stalled car from behind. Morgan, sitting in the car’s backseat, was taken by emergency medical responders to a hospital and pronounced dead.
A State Patrol analysis of the SUV’s computer data revealed that Alexander was driving 81 miles per hour 5 seconds before the crash and 62 to 63 mph upon impact. The speed limit on that stretch of highway is 65 mph.
The smaller vehicle’s hazard lights were flashing. The car’s driver, Christopher S. Petersen, 43, of St. Paul, and his son, 10-year-old Mason Ries, survived their injuries, the patrol said.
Law enforcement found that Alexander’s blood alcohol content less than two hours after the crash was 0.056%, below the state’s legal limit of 0.08%. The test also detected the presence of clonazepam, a prescription drug that acts as a sedative.
Alexander’s “impairment from alcohol and clonazepam” played a role in the crash, as well as the speed he was traveling seconds before impact, the charges read.
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