DWI charge to follow fatal fall off golf cart

A Faribault man's death prompts warnings about the use of alcohol while driving even small vehicles.

By ABBY SIMONS, Star Tribune

Last update: July 7, 2008 - 7:13 AM

A Faribault man is dead and his friend behind bars awaiting charges for vehicular homicide following a July 4th golf cart accident. Rice County authorities called it a tragic reminder of the dangers of drunken driving, even on small motorized vehicles.

Randy Dean Ronquist, 41, died after falling backward from the rear of the moving golf cart following an evening fireworks show at Hoy's Resort campground along French Lake in Rice County, near Faribault.

Sgt. Dan Silkey with the Rice County Sheriff's Office said authorities were called to the campground shortly before 11 p.m., where they discovered Ronquist. He wasn't breathing after striking his head on a paved township road bordering the campground. After lengthy attempts at CPR by rescue workers, he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver of the golf cart, a 47-year-old man from Richfield, was arrested at the scene.

He is being held without bail in the Rice County jail on suspicion of fifth-degree driving under the influence and criminal vehicular homicide following a death.

Ronquist was one of four men riding in the golf cart, a common mode of transportation among visitors to the popular campground. Returning to their campsite from the fireworks about a mile away, Ronquist and another man were standing in the back, while the driver and another man were seated in front.

Silkey said aggressive driving doesn't appear to be a factor, but that all four men had been drinking. The amount of alcohol in Ronquist's system is yet to be determined, he added.

"The most tragic thing about all this is everyone on that golf cart was very good friends," Silkey said. "To have them go through that -- and this is a pretty close-knit community as far as campsites go, with everyone out watching, it was a really sad ordeal."

Not only sad, he added, but also an important reminder that drivers and passengers in any vehicle with a motor, regardless of how small, are susceptible to the dangers of drunken driving.

"Lawnmowers, golf carts, anything that is motorized or self-propelled is considered under the law," Silkey said. "If it's motorized, you're fair game."

Ronquist had recently moved from Hollandale to Faribault to work at the local prison.

Silkey said speed will also be investigated to determine its role in the accident, but it's not likely it played a large role.

Silkey said a similar golf cart incident led to another drunken driving arrest last year in Rice County, though no one was killed. He returned to the campground Sunday night to estimate golf cart use and saw they are clearly the preferred mode of transportation.

It could be a trend that holds some risks, he said.

"Speed is yet to be determined, but how fast does a golf cart go?" he said. "If somebody loses their balance and hits their head on a hard surface, something's got to give."

Abby Simons • 612-673-4921

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