Jail likely for driver who had 11 shots of booze in hours before fatally running over woman in Blaine

The motorist has pleaded guilty to a felony for hitting a woman while she was walking to work.

December 6, 2020 at 5:27PM
Matt W. Hastreiter Credit: Anoka County jail
Matt W. Hastreiter Credit: Anoka County jail (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

A motorist has admitted in court to drinking 11 shots of liquor in the hours leading up to when he ran over and killed a woman before dawn last week in Blaine, according to authorities.

Matt W. Hastreiter, 42, of Lexington, pleaded guilty in Anoka County District Court last week with criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the death on Dec. 6, 2019, of 52-year-old Sheryl Ann Miller, of Blaine.

The plea agreement between the defense and prosecutors calls for a stay of execution of any prison time and for Hastreiter to serve his sentence in jail, the County Attorney's Office said Friday. The amount of time will be left to Judge Thomas Fitzpatrick at sentencing scheduled for Feb. 5.

The crash occurred shortly before 6 a.m. on Naples Street just south of Lake Drive. Miller was down in the road.

Hastreiter stopped immediately and told police that he had eight shots of vodka the night before and another three in the morning, according to the criminal complaint. A preliminary breath test measured his blood alcohol content at 0.117%, above the legal limit for driving in Minnesota.

Miller was walking to work at the time she was hit, daughter-in-law Brooke Miller wrote on a Facebook fundraising page the night of the crash.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482

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Paul Walsh

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Paul Walsh is a general assignment reporter at the Star Tribune. He wants your news tips, especially in and near Minnesota.

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