Star Tribune
Judge gives driver year in jail for being drunk, fatally hitting man in Minnesota street
A driver was given a year in jail Wednesday for being drunk when he fatally hit a man in the street near St. Cloud.
Tyler J. Nies, 26, of Sartell, Minn., was sentenced in Benton County District Court after pleading guilty to criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the crash shortly before 11 p.m. on July 28 in Sauk Rapids near the intersection of N. Benton Drive and N. 8th Street that killed Kevin D. Oehmen, 47, of Sauk Rapids.
Judge Robert Raupp opted for the year in jail while setting aside a 5¾-year term. Raupp also ordered Nies to serve 10 years’ probation, perform 80 hours of community work service, complete a chemical assessment attend a victim impact panel, abstain from mood-altering chemicals and stay away from bars.
According to the criminal complaint:
An officer at the scene noticed that Nies smelled of alcohol. Nies initially said he had one beer before driving his pickup. A preliminary breath test by the officer measured Nies’ blood alcohol content at 0.129%, more than 1 1⁄2 times the legal limit in Minnesota.
Upon further questioning, Nies said that before driving he drank three beers, which were about 16 ounces each.
Nies told police he was heading north on Benton Drive in the right-hand lane and suddenly saw a man walking in the grassy area next to the curb “like he was going to cross the road,” the complaint read. Police Chief Perry Beise added that Oehmen was on a street with no marked crosswalk.
Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters marched in Minneapolis on Sunday as part of worldwide demonstrations on the eve of the one-year anniversary of the Israel-Hamas war. The protests come as Israel has intensified its airstrikes in northern Gaza and southern Lebanon.
Protesters in Minneapolis carried signs depicting the flag of Palestine as they marched through the city streets. The demonstration was organized by American Muslims for Palestine-Minnesota. Across the world, pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protests and memorial events took place Sunday in Berlin, London and elsewhere.
Monday will mark a year since Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people in Israel and took another 250 hostage in a surprise attack that shocked the world. Since then Israeli forces have staged an aggressive assault of the Gaza Strip that has left more than 41,000 Palestinians dead, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
A National Park Service ranger died on Sunday as he tried to rescue a family who had become stranded on an island in Voyageurs National Park.
St. Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsay said in a phone call that the ranger was attempting to rescue a father and his two children and encountered dangerous conditions on Namakan Lake. Strong winds whipped up waves that reached between 5 and 6 feet.
“The boat flipped in the waves,” Ramsay said, and the ranger, a sworn law enforcement officer, died. The family survived the incident.
“Our hearts go out to our National Park Service rangers and their loss as well as the ranger who died in the line of duty today,” he added.
Ramsay said he did not know the exact time of the attempted rescue, and said a statement would be sent out shortly with more details on the incident.
Photos: Pro-Palestinian activists march in Minneapolis
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