A Minnesota man has been charged over a fatal car crash that police say took place as he tried racing his wife home after drinking vodka sodas at a bar.
Aloysius Kenneth Johnson, 48, is accused of crashing his truck into an SUV driven by 74-year-old Alice Marie Stack. She was removed from her vehicle and taken to hospital where she died.
Anoka County deputies responded to the intersection of 165th Avenue Northwest and 7th Avenue Northwest in Andover around 5.45 p.m. on May 16.
Deputies found a Ford F-350 truck in a ditch along with a Kia Soul. The Ford driver was not located at the scene.
One witness told police that the driver of the truck ran away into a nearby wooded area. Officers later spotted a man matching the description of a person walking along Valley Drive and stopped him, according to reports.
Investigators say Johnson was displaying signs of intoxication with poor balance, slurring his words and smelled of alcohol, according to KSTP.
Deputies obtained a warrant for and took a sample of Johnson’s blood at the scene of the incident.
The man’s wife arrived on the scene soon after the accident and identified his vehicle. The woman, who was not identified, told police she met Johnson at the SRO Bar in Oak Grove, where he had been eating and drinking.
She’d wanted to drive him home, but he refused and followed her in his truck.
She told officers that she thought her husband had wanted to beat her home and sped up to take a different route. She added that she did not see the crash when it happened.
During questioning, Johnson admitted to consuming three or four drinks at the SRO Bar and driving his truck home but denied remembering the crash, KARE 11 reported.
Court documents obtained by the outlet showed he had a previous DWI conviction.
