A motorcyclist has been charged with being drunk when his wife, seated behind him, was fatally injured in a collision with a deer on a dark country road in northwestern Minnesota.
Corey L. Reitmeier, 44, of Crookston, Minn., was charged by summons in Polk County District Court with criminal-vehicular homicide and has his first court appearance scheduled for Thursday.
The collision on Sept. 28, two days after Reitmeier's birthday, killed his wife, Wendy S. Reitmeier, 43, on westbound County Road 57, about a mile east of County Road 13.
Corey Reitmeier's blood alcohol content soon after the crash was measured by authorities at 0.18 percent, more than twice the legal limit for driving in Minnesota. He also was injured in the crash. Neither he nor his wife was wearing a helmet.
Wendy Reitmeier died from "extensive head trauma," the complaint read, citing autopsy results.
According to the complaint:
Katheryn Chaput, who reported the crash to 911, said the couple had been drinking at Huot Park, the location of a motorcycle ride that she had organized.
Interviewed the next day by investigators while being treated at Altru Hospital in Grand Forks, N.D., Corey Reitmeier said that he and his wife had gone to Maple Lake to close up their camper for the season and that they had a couple of drinks there, then another drink at Huot Park.
Later, he said that he was drinking the night before the crash and that he had four drinks on the day of the crash at various locations.
Corey Reitmeier's criminal history includes a drunken-driving conviction in 2004, speeding 30 miles per hour over the 55 mph limit and careless driving in 2003, and a hit-and-run conviction involving property damage in 2001.
