Charges: Teen admits being drunk, eating THC gummies before fatal crash near Willmar
An 18-year-old driver admitted getting drunk and consuming THC gummies before he crashed his pickup truck into another vehicle over the weekend north of Willmar, Minn., and killed the other motorist, according to charges filed Tuesday.
Daniel Lohse, of Willmar was charged in Kandiyohi County District Court with criminal vehicular homicide, criminal vehicular operation, drunken driving and being a minor while driving drunk in connection with the head-on crash, which happened about 2:20 a.m. on Hwy. 71 about 12 miles north of Willmar.
Emergency responders declared Dalia Zuniga, 52, of Willmar, dead at the scene. A passenger in her car, 31-year-old Sergio Vicente Valador-Venzor, of Belgrade, Minn., was taken to Willmar Hospital with noncritical injuries, authorities said.
According to the charges:
While firefighters freed Lohse from his pickup truck, he told them "I'm drunk" and "I'm wasted."
A sheriff's deputy saw a jar of marijuana buds in Lohse's pickup.
Lohse told state troopers that he had been drinking at a house party that night in New London and didn't know how much alcohol he had consumed before his southbound pickup hit the car head-on.
He added that he ate THC gummies as well, something he said he's been doing for a few years but never before with alcohol.
Law enforcement collected a sample of Lohse's blood for testing to determine his level of intoxication. Results are pending. It's illegal for anyone under 21 to be driving with any amount of alcohol in their system.
