A driver was “actively playing a video game” while drunk and high when he caused a head-on crash on a Twin Cities highway that killed him and injured another motorist, officials said Wednesday.
The collision occurred shortly after 10 p.m. on Nov. 22 on Hwy. 12 in Independence when Destin Michael Ertel, 32, of nearby Montrose, crossed the centerline in his car while heading west and collided with an eastbound SUV being driven by Charles Edward Darland, 35, of Bloomington, West Hennepin police said.
Ertel died at the scene, while Darland was taken by ambulance to HCMC with serious injuries, according to police.
A police statement Wednesday said that a comprehensive investigation involving the State Patrol, Hennepin County’s Medical Examiner’s Office and Sheriff’s Office determined that contributing factors in the crash included “impairment and potential driver distraction, supported by toxicology results indicating the presence of methamphetamine and the discovery of a cellphone actively playing a video game at the time of the crash.”
Police said their records do not include what video game was being played at the time of the crash.
There were no mechanical difficulties with Ertel’s car, nor did weather play a role in the collision, the statement continued.
Court records show that Ertel was caught 14 months earlier using his cellphone while driving in Monticello. He was convicted of a petty misdemeanor and paid $135 in fines and fees.
He’s also been convicted seven times for speeding and once for drunken driving, the court records revealed.
