Driver with prior DUIs charged with being drunk when causing fatal hit-and-run in Twin Cities

A driver who briefly fled after hitting and killing a 72-year-old pedestrian in a White Bear Lake crosswalk earlier this week was drunk at the time, according to charges filed Friday.

Christopher Ronald Olson, 46, was charged with three counts of criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the crash shortly before 4:30 p.m. Thursday at the intersection of White Bear Parkway and Birch Lake Boulevard N.

Olson, of White Bear Lake, was arrested Thursday night and remains held in lieu of $500,000 bail ahead of a court hearing April 17.

Court records show that Olson’s criminal history in Minnesota includes two convictions for drunken driving, one in 2009 and another in 2012.

Police found a loaded handgun in the glove box of Olson’s SUV. He does have a government-issued license to carry a firearm in public, the charges noted. It is against the law to carry a gun in public in Minnesota while having a blood alcohol content of 0.04% or higher.

According to the criminal complaint:

Law enforcement officers and emergency medical responders arrived to find the woman dead at the scene. Her identity has yet to be released.

A witness told officers the woman was crossing White Bear Parkway and was struck by an SUV in the middle of a clearly marked crosswalk.

Olson, accompanied by his mother, turned himself in at the White Bear Lake Police Department. He smelled of alcohol and was slurring his words.

“I’ve had something to drink,” he said. “I’ve admitted it.”

A preliminary breath test measured his blood alcohol content at 0.154%, nearly twice the legal limit for driving in Minnesota.

Olson told officers he drank four “shooter bottles” of vodka after leaving work.

He said he was driving west on White Bear Lake Parkway and had his cruise control set at 40 miles per hour.

“He said he was not paying attention and hit a person crossing the road,” the complaint read. He admitted to fleeing the scene in a panic.

Olson said he drove to his mother’s house nearby, and she persuaded him to go to police.