A southeastern Minnesota man has admitted to driving drunk with a revoked license when he strayed into the oncoming lane on a fall afternoon and fatally struck a motorcyclist, then drove away and fought with officers until he could be subdued.
Plea made by driver with no license who killed motorcyclist in SE. Minn. while drunk
He killed motorcyclist, then fled the scene.
March 31, 2017 at 2:43AM
Josh D. Hansen, 35, of Kellogg, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Wabasha County District Court to criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the death of Chris R. Nelson, 34, of Eyota, Minn., on Oct. 2 along Hwy. 42 near Plainview.
The agreement calls for Hansen to receive a 10-year term when he is sentenced in late May. Accounting for the time he continues to serve in jail, Hansen will spend less than two-thirds of the term in prison and the rest on supervised release. The prosecution is agreeing to drop charges of third-degree murder, fourth-degree assault and driving on a revoked license.
Hansen made what is called a Norgaard plea, which defendants make when contending that intoxication or amnesia prevents them from recalling what they are alleged to have done.
Moments before Nelson died, he told emergency responders his name and that the SUV had hit him. Nelson died at the scene, leaving behind a wife of seven years and two daughters.
Hansen also ran into a car heading the other way, but the couple in that vehicle escaped injury, the State Patrol said.
Once an officer and a sheriff's deputy caught up to Hansen in his SUV, they noted that he smelled of alcohol and had slurred speech and watery eyes. Hansen tried to fend off the officers and at one point spit in the deputy's face.
Hansen, whose driver's license has been revoked since July 12, 2016, has a lengthy criminal history.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
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