Coon Rapids Man Charged with Killing Friend While Driving Drunk
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A 21-year-old Coon Rapids man faces criminal charges after admitting to driving drunk in a crash which took the life of his friend last November.
Kyle Norman Wold was charged Friday with one count of criminal vehicular homicide and two counts of criminal vehicular operation related to a crash on the early morning of Nov. 22.
At about 2:12 a.m., Wold was driving a Suburu east on 131st Avenue Northwest in Coon Rapids when he blew through a red light at Coon Creek Boulevard Northeast, according to an amended criminal complaint.
Wold T-boned a woman in a Ford Explorer, who was travelling north on Coon Creek Boulevard.
Officers found the suspect sitting in a snowbank near his car when they arrived at the scene. He allegedly told officers, "I'm drunk, I'm in a lot of trouble. Arrest me, I was driving."
Crews had to extract Wold's 20-year-old passenger, who suffered a traumatic brain injury. Doctors later determined he would require a ventilator to live. He died on Nov. 26 at Mercy Hospital.
Another passenger, a 17-year-old girl, was found walking down a nearby street with stomach lacerations. She was also hospitalized.
The lone occupant of the Explorer was a 38-year-old woman who suffered multiple injuries, including a serious head injury and a fractured scapula.
Wold later reiterated to officers at the hospital that he drove drunk after leaving a party with his passengers. His blood-alcohol level was later determined to be .043.
If convicted, Wold could face up to 16 years in prison. His next court hearing is set for Dec. 10 at 1 p.m.