A woman has blamed her dog for a crash that killed an 82-year-old woman, claiming it grabbed the steering wheel.
Shauna Rae Dokken, 43, from Minnesota has been charged with criminal vehicular homicide for allegedly driving negligently when she collided head-on with another car, killing Barbara Lee Welberg, 82.
She is also accused of having been under the influence of a controlled substance during the incident on May 29, when it is claimed she drove her Ford pick-up onto the opposite side of the road and hit the Kia Sorento.
Ms Welberg’s car turned upside down during the accident, which took place at around 4pm local time. Ms Welberg died at the scene while Dokken was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Dokken has since given differing accounts of what happened including sometimes conflicting versions, according to state court documents, reports People.
And in one account she claimed her dog distracted her while she was driving and then grabbed the steering wheel, causing her to lose control.
According to the complaint, Dokken told police her dog distracted her, then “twisted the steering wheel and caused the vehicle to spin out of control”,
Police said they received many reports of Dokken driving erratically before the accident. One witness called emergency services and tried to follow her vehicle to get the number plate after claiming to see her veer into oncoming traffic.
One witness told police he swerved onto the hard shoulder to avoid crashing into Dokken’s vehicle and that “it felt as if the driver was intentionally tracking his movements and trying to hit him”.
It is claimed by officers that Dokken had slurred speech when she was questioned and admitted taking prescription drugs including Buspar, Lorazepam and Adderall
Dokken remains in custody pending further proceedings after a detention order was signed Monday by Roseau County District Court Judge Tamara Yon.
She is being held at the Roseau County Jail on $200,000 bail and is scheduled to appear in court on June 10 for a probation violation hearing.
Article continues below
The criminal case remains under investigation and if convicted, Dokken could face up to 10 years in prison and could be hit with a $20,000 fine.