A Spicer woman who told a trooper she had three vodka drinks at the Legion in New London is charged in the Oct. 31 crash on Highway 23 that critically injured a woman, according to a criminal complaint.
Traci Lorayne Dengerud, 56, is charged in Kandiyohi County District Court with felony criminal vehicular operation causing great bodily harm with an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more. She also faces two gross misdemeanor counts of criminal vehicular operation causing bodily harm and a count of third-degree driving while impaired. The complaint was filed Nov. 3.
According to the complaint, a State Patrol trooper arrived at the crash near New London at about 8:23 p.m. It was very foggy and raining lightly. Dengerud’s SUV had severe damage to its front driver’s side. A sedan with severe front-end damage sat in the outside lane of the highway.
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A woman who was a passenger in the sedan had life-threatening internal injuries and was taken to a hospital in Saint Cloud in critical condition, the complaint says. The sedan’s driver told the trooper he was going about 65 mph and that both of them were wearing seat belts.
Dengerud told the trooper she was driving to a friend’s house. She said it was foggy, she did not see any other vehicles and she crossed the intersection, according to the complaint.
The trooper smelled alcohol on Dengerud’s breath and noticed she had watery eyes, the complaint says. Asked whether she had been drinking, she said she had a drink. She later said she had three mixed drinks of vodka and 7Up at the Legion in New London. She did poorly on field sobriety tests. A preliminary breath test showed 0.18, according to the complaint.
Dengerud was arrested. A blood sample taken under a search warrant was sent to the state crime lab for testing. When the complaint was filed, a judge ordered her detained.
Criminal vehicular operation causing great bodily harm carries a maximum of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. MN CRIME first reported the crash Nov. 1 from the State Patrol’s report.
