LAKE HATTIE TOWNSHIP -- Alcohol was likely a factor in a July 1 traffic accident that left the driver injured and his vehicle burned to a crisp.
According to a release from Hubbard County Sheriff Cory Aukes, at 5:43 p.m. on July 1, the sheriff’s office received a report of a crash on Hubbard County Road 3 in Lake Hattie Township.
The reporting party said a vehicle had gone into the ditch, a person was injured and the area had started on fire. Hubbard County deputies, medical personnel and members of the Bemidji Fire Department responded to the scene. Deputies found the vehicle fully engulfed in flames, and its driver, 51-year-old David John of Lino Lakes, Minn., was sitting on the side of the road with obvious facial injuries, the release said.
According to the release, further investigation found that John was traveling north on County Road 3 in a 1978 Ford Bronco when he drove around a curve and lost control of his vehicle. The vehicle entered the ditch where it crashed and caught on fire.
A witness following John reported that he had been swerving, driving fast and erratic prior to crashing. The driver admitted to being at multiple bars where he had been drinking. A preliminary breath test administered at the scene indicated that John’s blood alcohol was a .138, the release said.
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Bemidji firefighters extinguished the fire, and John was transported to the Sanford Bemidji Medical Center to be treated for his injuries.
A search warrant was obtained to get a sample of the driver’s blood for further alcohol testing and those results are pending analysis by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension lab, the release said.
