A St. Paul motorist’s blood-alcohol level was more than four times the legal limit to drive when he slammed into a tree at 60 mph in his North End neighborhood last week, killing one passenger and critically injuring the other, according to charges filed Thursday.
The crash happened just before 10 a.m. May 9 on Cottage Avenue near Galtier Street, an area four blocks west of Rice Street. A 53-year-old man who was a back-seat passenger died two days later while hospitalized. He hasn’t been named, pending notification of next of kin.
A blood sample taken from the driver, Austin Wah, 25, of St. Paul, four hours after the crash showed his blood-alcohol concentration was 0.37, according to the criminal complaint. The legal limit to drive in Minnesota is .08 BAC.
Wah, who was also injured in the crash, remained hospitalized Thursday, when he was charged by warrant in Ramsey County District Court with criminal vehicular homicide and criminal vehicular operation.
According to the complaint, police officers who responded to the crash about 9:50 a.m. in the 200 block of Cottage Avenue West found a Toyota Corolla that had crashed head-on into a tree.
The car’s registered owner, a 35-year-old man, was partially pinned in the front passenger seat and complained of a neck injury. The 53-year-old man was extricated from the car. Both men were taken to Regions Hospital in critical condition and underwent surgeries.
At the crash scene, on a boulevard, officers recovered an empty vodka bottle and another one that was less than a quarter-full.
Officers did not see skid marks in the street to indicate the driver had attempted to stop.
Officers spoke to a witness who said a bald Asian male got out of the driver’s seat and that his face and legs were bleeding. The witness said he told the driver to stay there, but the driver walked away.
Another witness told officers he knew where the driver lived and took them to an apartment at the end of Cottage Avenue. Wah answered the door with no shirt on and had injuries to his chin and left leg. He smelled of alcohol.
Wah’s grandfather told officers that Wah had drunk alcohol earlier that morning at the apartment. He said he met Wah outside after Wah was in a car accident and they walked back to the apartment.
Four witnesses of the crash later identified Wah as the man who had gotten out of the Corolla’s driver’s seat.
Medics responded to treat Wah, who told them he had not drunk alcohol or taken drugs.
At the hospital, the 35-year-old man told police that Wah drove while he was in the front seat and the man’s uncle was in the back.
A registered nurse collected Wah’s blood sample at 1:53 p.m. and it was sent to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for analysis.
Wah agreed to speak with an investigator and claimed the two men showed up at his apartment drunk and asked him for a ride to a store. He admitted to having drank two beers. He said he crashed near a stop sign and walked home, and admitted that he did not call 911 despite knowing his passengers were seriously injured. He said he has an instruction permit to drive.
The results of Wah’s blood sample came back Wednesday.
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Based on damage to the car, an investigator estimated that Wah was going 60 mph at the time of impact. Officers obtained a search warrant to collect event data recorder information from the car.
The deadly crash was the first of two over the weekend in St. Paul’s North End that involved an alleged drunken driver.
On Sunday, Paw Moo Htoo, 30, of St. Paul, was going over 100 mph when he blew through a red light and crashed into an SUV at the intersection of Dale Street and Arlington Avenue, killing the driver, Marvin Martin Scroggins, 42, of St. Paul, according to charges filed Tuesday.
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