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One evening of winter fun -Two families tragically affectedA family sledding outing on a winterís evening turned deadly for a Chisago City family whose lives will go on without their happy-go-lucky little tot. And the dare-devil actions of a young man, also out to enjoy that same winterís evening, will most certainly change the course of his life from now on. The Lindstrom youth, 17-year-old Nicholas Paul Johns, is charged in connection with the death of two-year-old Ryan Anderson of Chisago City following a snowmobile accident Jan. 21. Johnson is being charged with two counts of Criminal Vehicular Homicide: charge one for causing the death of the child as result of operating a snowmobile (motor vehicle) in ìa negligent manner while under the influence of alcohol,î and charge two for having caused the accident and leaving the scene ìwithout stopping to leave information or render assistance.î According to the criminal complaint from the Chisago County Attorneyís office, when a Chisago City officer arrived at the scene, he found the father holding the child who had a large laceration on his forehead. The father and child were attended to by other officers on the scene. While speaking with individuals at the scene, an Officer Varco was told that a red snowmobile carrying two people had come down the hill at a high rate of speed and struck the little boy. The officer was told that the snowmobile fled the scene. According to the complaint, Johns and a female passenger were riding a friendís snowmobile. After driving around the park area, Johns went up the hill and told his passenger to hold on because he intended to go down fast. Johns said he was traveling about 30 miles per hour. Johns told officials he had seen a ìfigure, thought it was a dog,î under his skis, but that he didnít feel anything like he hit something so he took off toward the lake. The complaint states that his passenger told him (Johns) he hit a child and that he got scared and didnít know what to do so he went out to a fish house. Johns stated that some of his friends went to the park and came back to the fish house saying a child had been hurt bad, so Johns went home and told his father. Johnsí passenger told officers she yelled at Johns when he was going down the hill because he was heading toward a person. This passenger told officials they ran over the individual and continued toward the lake. The passenger said she believes they were going between 30 and 40 miles per hour. She stated that she told Johns to return to the scene and he refused. Later that evening two officers responded to a call from a man who said he was Johnsí father. He told the officer his son may have been involved in an accident on a snowmobile. The officers took Johns into custody. Johns was taken to Fairview Medical Center in Wyoming where he was read the Implied Consent Advisory and where he consented to giving a blood sample which was taken and sent to the BCA. Johns admitted to drinking three beers earlier that evening. A preliminary breath test performed at the time showed a reading of .027. Johns was then read the Miranda Warning at which time he gave his story to the officer. Johns was in court Wednesday, Jan. 23 in Chisago County and formally charged with the two criminal vehicular counts. The Chisago County attorneyís office has made the request for the referral to adult court. ©ECM Post Review |