A Minnesota van driver took brain injury patients on a two-hour ride while drunk and high before crashing into an SUV, cops say.
Michael Edward Rahja Jr., 19, was driving to group homes for TBI Residential and Community Services, which helps people with traumatic brain injuries, last Thursday.
He had a 59-year-old man and a 28-year-old man in the car as he was “driving at speeds upwards of 100 miles an hour and driving in and out of the driving lane, passing cars,” according to a criminal complaint reported on by The Minnesota Star Tribune and Duluth News Tribune.
One of Rahja’s passengers told police he drank alcohol before “driving recklessly for the past two hours,” the complaint said.
Rahja avoided several rear-end crashes during the trip thanks to the van’s automatic braking feature. But then he allegedly veered into oncoming traffic and hit an SUV during an attempted right turn.
The SUV rolled at least once, and the 60-year-old female driver suffered from a fractured pelvis, three fractured vertebrae and a concussion. It’s unclear whether Rahja or his two passengers sustained any injuries.
Rahja later reportedly told police he had recently consumed half of a small bottle of vodka and smoked marijuana.
A preliminary breath test showed his blood alcohol content at 0.228 percent, nearly three times the legal limit for a driver at least 21 years old, police said.
Rahja was arrested and charged with criminal vehicular operation, leaving the scene of a crash involving injury or death, driving without a valid license and underage drinking in connection with the incident.
Information about Rahja’s attorney was not immediately clear. He remained in jail Tuesday with bail set to $75,000.
Rahja had previously been charged with drunk driving after authorities found him asleep in a car parked at the end of a driveway in August, The Minnesota Star Tribune reported. That case is pending.
