Driver admits being drunk, high in wrong-way crash that killed 1, injured 2 on Hwy. 169

A 35-year-old man has admitted being drunk and high while driving on the wrong side of the highway in Scott County, hitting an oncoming SUV and killing a passenger and seriously injured two others.

Michael M. Morse, of Minneapolis, pleaded guilty Friday in Scott County District Court to one count of criminal vehicular homicide and two counts of criminal vehicular operation in connection with the crash on May 22, 2022, that killed 19-year-old Arianna M. Vos of Hutchinson, Minn.

Morse indicated in his plea agreement that he intends to ask the judge to spare him prison and sentence him to probation. That would be a downward departure from a sentence of roughly 3¹⁄₂ to 4³⁄₄ years that state guidelines recommend.

Vos arrived by ambulance at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis and was declared dead about 90 minutes after the collision, the charges said.

The driver of the SUV, 21-year-old Cassidy N. Martin, of Gaylord, Minn., needed a metal rod implanted to repair a broken leg, according to the charges. Rear-seat passenger Alyssa L. Grutt, 21, of Hutchinson, required the same procedure for a broken leg. Grutt also suffered a lacerated liver, lung bruises and abdominal injuries.

Vos was a Hutchinson High School classmate of Grutt's and worked with Martin at a FedEx facility in Mankato, Vos' mother said. DeeDee Vos said her daughter and the others were returning from the Twin Cities after a night at an 18-and-older club.

Arianna Vos had just finished her sophomore year at Minnesota State University, Mankato, where she was studying zoology, her mother said.

According to the criminal complaint:

A state trooper arrived before 3:30 a.m. at the crash scene, southbound Hwy. 169 at Delaware Avenue, and detected a strong odor of alcohol coming from Morse. He said he had three mixed drinks about 30 to 45 minutes before driving his SUV north in the southbound lanes.

A preliminary breath test measured Morse's blood alcohol content at 0.113%, according to a search warrant affidavit filed in court. That level is well above the legal limit for driving in Minnesota.

The trooper removed suspected marijuana from Morse's pocket and various drug paraphernalia. Morse "later admitted smoking marijuana before driving," the charges read.