Charges alleging several negligent acts have been leveled against a pickup truck driver who was pulling a chisel plow when it sliced through a minivan heading the other way on a rural Anoka County road last fall, killing the other motorist.
Berend Willem Bouwman, 24, of Brooklyn Park was charged Tuesday in Anoka County District Court with one count of criminal vehicular homicide and two counts of criminal vehicular operation in connection with the collision on Nov. 17 in Nowthen.
Killed in the crash was Cole R. Deiley, 32, of Zimmerman, Minn., and injured were his partner, Alyssa Groettum, 30, and his children, Rosa Deiley, 4, and Callum Deiley, 3.
Bouwman was charged by summons and is due in court on July 26. He declined Wednesday to respond to the allegations.
His family owns Twin Cities Harvest Festival and Maze in Brooklyn Park, touted as having the metro area's largest corn maze.
According to the criminal complaint:
Law enforcement arrived about 8 p.m. to the crash scene in the 22700 block of NW. Jarvis Street and spotted the pickup on its side in a ditch, and the minivan in the road and "appearing to have been sawed open," the charges read.
Cole Deiley "was unable to see the chisel plow before it was too late," the complaint continued. "The impact occurred between the front driver's side of the minivan and the disc section of the chisel plow, directly making contact with the driver's compartment." He was trapped in the wreckage and declared dead by emergency medical responders.
A State Patrol investigation found several factors played a role in the crash pointing to gross negligence on Bouwman's part: The plow was at least 3 feet into the opposite lane; Bouwman swerved to miss a sign on the right shoulder and strayed farther into the minivan's lane; the chisel plow was not illuminated as required; the lack of a lead vehicle warning other drivers of a wide load; and Bouwman was traveling 4 to 8 miles per hour over the 30 mph limit for pulling an agricultural implement.
Callum Deiley was the most seriously hurt of the minivan's passengers. He sustained a skull fracture, bleeding on the brain and needed nine stitches to his face.
According to Cole Deiley's online obituary, his "smile and humor always brightened the dullest of rooms and touched the hearts of everyone he came across."
