Northfield Man Sentenced to 180 Days in Jail for Snowmobile Death

A Northfield man was sentenced on Thursday to 180 days in Rice County Jail for his involvement in the February 2010 death of another Northfield man.

Todd Dale Olson, 46, pleaded guilty on Nov. 7, 2011, to criminal vehicular homicide or operation where the driver who causes an accident leaves the scene, which is a felony, and operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, a gross misdemeanor. With the plea, two other felony criminal vehicular homicide charges were dropped.

According to the criminal complaint filed with Rice County District Court, Olson and two friends were riding snowmobiles west of Northfield around 3 a.m. on Feb. 18, 2010, when Olson “t-boned” the snowmobile driven by his friend, David Markey, 41, after coming over a slight hill.

Emergency personnel pronounced Markey dead at the scene.

The third man told a deputy that the trio had been bar-hopping since the previous afternoon in Castle Rock, Randolph, Dennison and Millersburg and were on their way home to Northfield when the accident took place. Later in the morning, Olson’s blood-alcohol content was recorded at .23, nearly three times the legal limit for driving.

Olson left the scene of the accident before emergency personnel arrived and told officers he did not call 911 because he was scared, according to the complaint.

Rice County Judge Thomas Neuville gave Olson a stay of imposition in favor of jail time. Neuville ordered Olson to serve 60 days of his jail sentence starting Jan. 20. Olson then will serve 40-day jail sentences each of the next three years starting in February 2013.

However, Olson, who also received 10 years of probation, can have the 120 days of jail stayed if his probation officer says Olson was in good behavior for the year following his 60-day stint in jail. He must also pay a $5,000 fine.

Olson faced a maximum penalty of 13 years in prison and/or $23,000 in fines.

The complaint says that Olson was convicted of prior DWIs and DUIs in Dakota County and Arizona.

Editor's note: Members of the Rice County Chemical Health Coalition were present at Olson's sentencing on Thursday and member Nancy Johnson read a community impact statement. What follows is a written version of that statement.

I am speaking for the Rice County Safe Communities Coalition and the Rice County Chemical Health Coalition. Our mission is to stop impaired driving, support people pursuing recovery and to prevent young people from using alcohol and other drugs. We speak here today on behalf of the community.

Drinking and driving is a dangerous and deadly business. Every third day, a Minnesotan is killed in a crash involving alcohol. Every week, 7 more are severely injured.

Mr. Olson’s disregard for his safety and the safety of all the other snowmobilers out that evening especially the ones traveling with him shows how alcohol affects judgment. Mr. Olson’s judgment continued to be impaired when he left the scene where he might have been able to help his friend by calling 911 immediately. I have to believe that Mr. Markey would be alive today if no one had been impaired by alcohol that night. That is such a sad thought but Mr. Olson is an adult and he made the choice to drink and drive and take the risk.

None of us live in a bubble, so everything we do affects those around us and the community as a whole. The financial costs to Rice residents for alcohol related crashes in 2010 was over $2.7 million dollars in direct and indirect costs including healthcare, emergency response and law enforcement.

Between 2008 and 2010, there were 31 alcohol related serious injuries, and 6 alcohol related deaths in Rice County. In fact, in 2010 alone, the number of alcohol-related serious injury crashes in Rice County nearly doubled from the previous year. There were 1,100 DWI citations issued in Rice County during this same three year period. Alcohol related crashes resulting in serious injuries and death keep our county on the list of the 13 deadliest counties. These 13 counties accounted for more than one-half of the state’s total alcohol-related deaths and serious injuries. In spite of DWI patrols and DNR efforts, it is impossible to stop everyone from making bad choices. Drivers of all types of vehicles must be responsible for their actions. We are concerned about the safety of everyone on Rice County roads and off road travels on a snowmobile or ATV and we want to see impaired driving incidents stop.

This wasn’t the first time Mr. Olson has driven impaired and been arrested and convicted, but we hope it is the last. We appreciate that Mr. Olson finally pled guilty to second degree driving impaired and felony CVH for leaving the scene of a crash and saved the cost of a jury trial. We hope that whatever sentence is given will change his dangerous and costly behavior and send a message to all others who think that they can handle drinking and then driving of any vehicle. We urge the court to impose a sentence of 48 months and execute that sentence.