A Plymouth man was sentenced to four years in prison Tuesday in connection with a fatal crash while he was driving intoxicated in Anoka.

Zachary Scott Lee Wydella. (Courtesy of the Anoka County Sheriff’s Department)

Zachary Scott Lee Wydella, 38, was found guilty in connection with the March 2025 crash that killed a Ham Lake woman.

The county attorney’s office said the courtroom was filled during Tuesday’s sentencing with family members of Ann Marie Moore, 51, who died in the March 2025 crash. Family members “provided a significant number of victim impact statements and shared photos from throughout her life” at Tuesday’s sentencing.

Wydella was found guilty of two counts of criminal vehicular homicide: one for driving in a negligent manner while under the influence of alcohol and another for driving with an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more.

The criminal complaint said his blood-alcohol level was 0.246 — three times the legal limit to drive — and that he was speeding at the time of a crash along North Street near Seventh Avenue, a mostly industrial area about 1½ miles northeast of the city’s downtown.

According to the criminal complaint, Anoka police officers dispatched to the scene saw Moore’s Toyota Yaris sedan with front-end damage facing west in the eastbound lane and halfway up the curb. She was trapped in the car and unconscious and not breathing. Medics arrived and pronounced her dead at the scene.

Wydella’s Toyota Sienna minivan was facing east in the westbound lane. He was injured, and had regained consciousness. When speaking with officers, his breath smelled of alcohol and his speech was slurred. His eyes were bloodshot and watery.

An open box of wine was found under the passenger seat of his minivan. A cup was found and wine was splattered on the driver’s side door.

Moore’s online obituary says she was a mother, daughter and sister who will be remembered for her “huge heart, compassionate ways, and her laugh. She enjoyed baking, crafting, vacationing with her friends. Above all, she enjoyed time spent with her daughter, nieces, nephews and family.”

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Associated Press

WARNER, Okla. (AP) — A basketball player at a junior college in Oklahoma who was injured during a game has died, school officials said.

Connors State College sophomore Ethan Dietz died Tuesday after he was injured during the second half of a game Saturday in Texas, the school said in a statement posted to its Facebook page. A spokesperson for the college, Shannon Rigsby, said initial reports indicate Dietz suffered some kind of head injury, but that she didn’t have any more information.

“Ethan exemplified what it means to be a Cowboy, to value hard work and being part of a team,” according to the statement from the school. “While the team and the Cowboy community are processing our own grief, our hearts go out to his family and friends.”

This undated image provided by Connors State College shows Ethan Dietz, a basketball player at Connors State College in Warner, Okla. (Connors State College via AP)

Messages seeking comment were left Wednesday with the college’s athletic director and men’s basketball coach.

Several of the college’s men’s and women’s basketball games were canceled following Dietz’s death.

Dietz was a 6-foot-8 forward from Vilonia, Arkansas, who was averaging 11 points per game through eight games so far this season. He had eight points and four rebounds in 20 minutes of playing time Saturday before he was injured.

A vigil in his honor was scheduled for Dec. 1 at the college’s campus in Warner, Oklahoma.

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Associated Press

WARNER, Okla. (AP) — A basketball player at a junior college in Oklahoma who was injured during a game has died, school officials said.

Connors State College sophomore Ethan Dietz died Tuesday after he was injured during the second half of a game Saturday in Texas, the school said in a statement posted to its Facebook page. A spokesperson for the college, Shannon Rigsby, said initial reports indicate Dietz suffered some kind of head injury, but that she didn’t have any more information.

“Ethan exemplified what it means to be a Cowboy, to value hard work and being part of a team,” according to the statement from the school. “While the team and the Cowboy community are processing our own grief, our hearts go out to his family and friends.”

This undated image provided by Connors State College shows Ethan Dietz, a basketball player at Connors State College in Warner, Okla. (Connors State College via AP)

Messages seeking comment were left Wednesday with the college’s athletic director and men’s basketball coach.

Several of the college’s men’s and women’s basketball games were canceled following Dietz’s death.

Dietz was a 6-foot-8 forward from Vilonia, Arkansas, who was averaging 11 points per game through eight games so far this season. He had eight points and four rebounds in 20 minutes of playing time Saturday before he was injured.

A vigil in his honor was scheduled for Dec. 1 at the college’s campus in Warner, Oklahoma.

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After one game, the Frost are still trying to figure out how their altered lineup will come together for defense of their second PWHL title in as many seasons.

After a 2-1 loss to the Toronto Sceptres in their opener last week, they’re just a little bit closer to the answer that will unfold over a 30-game season.

“Whether it was players playing in their first game of Season 3 or their first PWHL game, I think we all gained a lot of experience that night that we’re going to be taking forward,” team captain Kendall Coyne Schofield said following Tuesday’s practice at TRIA Rink.

More of a mystery is Minnesota’s next opponent.

The Frost start a two-game road trip Friday in Seattle, where one of two PWHL expansion teams is beginning play. The Torrent are 0-0-1 after a 4-3 loss to the other expansion team, the Vancouver Goldeneyes, on Nov. 22.

Eighteen of the Torrent’s 26 players were playing in the PWHL last season, but the coaching staff — led by first-year head coach Steve O’Rourke — is new to the league, making this a learning opportunity for both sides.

“We’ll kind of see how they’re being coached. We’re not really sure the style they’re going to want to play,” Frost head coach Ken Klee said. “We know they have a talented roster. It will be interesting to see how they manage their assets and how they’re going to play.”

Old teammate Brooke Bryant, who helped win both of Minnesota’s Walter Cups, is a forward on the team, as is Hilary Knight, a finalist for forward of the year last season with the Boston Fleet. One is even more familiar: Seattle blue liner Emily Zumwinkle is the sister of Frost forward Grace Zumwinkle.

“An expansion franchise, but I think there’s a lot of familiar faces,” Coyne Schofield said. “But our approach doesn’t change. It’s going to be a new building. Obviously, a new fan base, from what we know already, is blossoming.”

The Frost were hoping for a better outcome against Toronto, a team they had knocked out of the postseason in the league’s first two seasons, but Klee said he was generally pleased with what he saw, noting that his staff had the Frost with 21 scoring chances to the Sceptres’ eight.

“Usually, when you outchance a team 2-1, you end up on the right side with shots and everything else,” he said. “We have to keep up the little things.”

After Friday’s game, the Frost will move on to Ottawa, where they will play in a rematch of last season’s PWHL finals teams on Tuesday night.

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