Man Pleads Guilty in Fatal Meeker County Crash

Saint Cloud, MN, USA / KNSI

Jennifer Lewerenz

Apr 6, 2021 | 12:00 PM

Pixabay

(KNSI) — A 63-year-old Grove City man pled guilty to two felony charges after causing a fatal crash in May of 2018.

Blake Lee Ahlbrecht pleaded guilty in Meeker County Court to criminal vehicular homicide, leaving the scene, and criminal vehicular operation and leaving the scene connected to the crash that killed one person and injured another.

The Minnesota State Patrol says Ahlbrecht was driving a Dodge Caravan west on County Road 16 just north of Grove City when he ran a stop sign at Highway 4 and was hit by a semi.

Ahlbrecht was not hurt, but police say he had been drinking. 57-year-old Steven Schmidt of Atwater was not wearing a seatbelt. He was ejected from the van and pronounced dead at the scene. The semi driver, 72-year-old Gary Dettman of Stewart, was pinned in the truck, which landed on its side. Dettman was taken to St. Cloud Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

A jury trial for Ahlbrecht was set to begin Monday.

Sentencing is set for June.

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