CHARGES: Drunk Driver Crashed into Tree, Left Dying Passenger Behind

May 16

A man has been charged in connection with a fatal crash in Saint Paul last week that left one person dead and seriously injured another.

Austin Wah, 25, faces one count of criminal vehicular homicide and one count of criminal vehicular operation resulting in great bodily harm.

Prosecutors say Wah was driving drunk when he crashed into a tree near his apartment on Friday, May 9, killing a man in the back seat and seriously injuring the front-seat passenger.

FREE > Sign up for the MN CRIME newsletter

Police were called just before 10 a.m. to the 260 block of Cottage Avenue West and found a Toyota Corolla that was crashed head-on into a tree. A man in the front passenger seat was partially pinned and in obvious pain, complaining of a neck injury. Another man was found unresponsive, with his legs in the back seat and his head on the lap of the front passenger.

Both men were taken to Regions Hospital in critical condition. The front passenger was taken into surgery with an injury to his aorta and the man who was in the back seat died two days later, on Sunday, May 11.

READ MORE > Saint Paul coverage

Officers recovered two vodka bottles near the scene—one empty and one partially full, court documents say. There were no skid marks on the road to indicate any attempt to slow the vehicle before the crash.

Witnesses said a bald Asian male wearing a pink graphic shirt got out of the driver’s seat and with visible injuries. He ignored directions to stay and walked away from the wreckage, the documents said. One witness brought officers to an apartment on the same block, where Wah answered the door shirtless and bleeding. He matched the suspect’s description given by the witnesses and officers smelled alcohol on his breath. They detained him a short time later.

Wah’s grandfather said Wah had been drinking earlier that morning, the documents said. After the crash, he met Wah outside and walked him back to the apartment.

Wah denied drinking at first but later told police he’d had two beers. He said he was asked to drive because the others were too drunk and claimed the front passenger had been interfering with the steering wheel. But that passenger later told investigators no one had touched the wheel and confirmed that Wah was the person driving.

Wah’s blood was drawn at the hospital around 1:53 p.m. and later tested at a blood alcohol concentration of 0.37—more than four times the legal limit. Investigators estimate the car was going 60 miles per hour when it hit the tree.

Police later recovered Wah’s shirt and two beer cans from his bedroom. Wah admitted he drove only a short distance before crashing, didn’t call for help and left knowing that both passengers were badly hurt, the documents allege.

Wah remains hospitalized due to his injuries and has been charged by warrant. A booking photo is not yet available. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison for the criminal vehicular homicide charge.

The fatal crash was the first of two over the weekend in the city’s North End, both involving an alleged drunk driver.

On Sunday, May 11, Paw Moo Htoo, 30, of Saint Paul, was allegedly driving at over 100 mph when he went through a red light and crashed into an SUV at Dale Street and Arlington Avenue, killing the driver, Marvin Martin Scroggins, 42, of Saint Paul.

> See more of our latest coverage