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Jose Luis Fuentez-Gonzalez, 34, was charged Wednesday with criminal vehicular operation and third-degree drunken driving. Both charges carry maximum penalties of up to a year in jail and a $3,000 fine.
According to the criminal complaint made available Monday, the crash happened about 2 a.m. Aug. 17 near a sharp curve on Minnesota Hwy. 74 near the Whitewater State Park. A sheriff’s deputy responding to the scene discovered a 1996 minivan on its side on the west side of the road. The deputy determined the van had lost control and hit a rock retaining wall, causing it to skid sideways, rollover and hit a tree, according to the complaint. The deputy measured distances between skid marks on the road and the wall and tree and determined the van traveled a total of 302 feet.
Immediately after the crash and before police arrived, a passerby gave Fuentez-Gonzalez and his passenger, Jose Asencion Somano, 19, a ride to St. Charles. The responding deputy had the men transported to St. Marys Hospital in Rochester, Minn., for evaluation. According to police reports, Fuentez-Gonzalez suffered scratches to his face, abdomen and ribcage and a cut on his hand. Somano suffered a laceration to his right leg, police said.
A preliminary breath test showed Fuentez-Gonzalez’s blood-alcohol concentration to be 0.145. He submitted to a urine test at 4:48 a.m., court documents show. The results of that test from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension show a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.12 percent.
Fuentez-Gonzalez admitted to investigators Aug. 20 that he had been driving the van and had to swerve to miss a deer that had jumped out in front of the vehicle. He also admitted drinking about four beers and that he shouldn’t have been driving.
Fuentez-Gonzalez has a previous drunken driving conviction in March 2000 and has been summoned to appear in court Dec. 30.
Kevin Behr may be reached at (507) 453-3524 or at kbehr@winonadailynews.com.
WSUGrad07' wrote on Nov 11, 2008 10:30 AM: