Grafton man charged with vehicular homicide appears in court

Dec. 14—GRAFTON, N.D. — A Grafton man accused of

driving drunk when he crashed his vehicle

last month in rural Walsh County, killing a sugar beet executive and injuring other passengers, made his initial appearance in court on Tuesday.

Christopher R. Thompson, 46, is charged with DUI vehicular homicide and DUI crash involving injury. He appeared via Zoom for his court appearance on Tuesday, Dec. 13. In November, he was given a $50,000 bond. He could also pay $5,000 in cash for an appearance bond with conditions.

Thompson is prohibited from any alcohol use, and was required to enroll in the 24/7 sobriety monitoring program as a condition of his bond. Court documents state Thompson either had to appear at the Walsh County Sheriff's Office at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. for alcohol testing or wear a SCRAM bracelet and report as required for the information to be downloaded.

In his initial appearance on Tuesday, Thompson said he was being monitored by a SCRAM bracelet.

If he has a positive alcohol test at any time as the case progresses, Thompson's bond will be revoked. Tampering with the results of testing or failure to comply with testing will also result in bond revocation.

Thompson was

involved in a single-vehicle crash

on Nov. 12, on Walsh County Road 9 about 5 miles east of Edinburg. According to an affidavit in the case, a deputy with the Walsh County Sheriff's Office arrived on scene and was informed one passenger injured in the crash had died. There were five other occupants in the vehicle.

The passenger who died was identified as 48-year-old

Jason Schatzke of Wheatland, North Dakota

. Schatzke was treasurer of the Red River Valley Sugarbeet Growers Association, Forum News Service previously reported.

Thompson was identified as the driver. His eyes were glossy, his speech was slightly slurred and the deputy detected a strong odor of alcohol on him, the affidavit said.

The deputy asked Thompson if he was injured and Thompson said he was fine. He said he had five or six drinks throughout the night. He refused to do a breathalyzer test but consented to a blood draw, the affidavit said.

Thompson was arrested at 9:23 p.m. and transported to Unity Hospital for medical clearance. While transporting Thompson, the deputy was notified one of the passengers was being transported to First Care in Park River, North Dakota for suspected injuries.

Thompson had been elected as a Walsh County commissioner days before the incident,

the Herald previously reported

. He decided not to take the position following the crash.

DUI vehicular homicide, a Class A felony, has a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and $20,000 in fines. DUI crash involving injury, a Class C felony, has a maximum sentence of five years in prison and $10,000 in fines.

Thompson's preliminary hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. on March 3, 2023.