Home
Local

Smashed: The toll of driving drunk in Minnesota

One face, one case: Michael Patrick Skubitz

Article by: Jane Friedmann
Updated: March 3, 2010 - 5:20 PM

Booking photo for Michael Patrick Skubitz, 28, Oak Grove

Photo: ,

Camera Star Tribune photo galleries

Camera view larger

43
comments
resize text
print
buy reprints

Tweet
share

email
Email share

your name

your email

recipients email

+ add a comment add a comment

Latest incident: About 10 p.m. on Nov. 8, on County Road 348 in Itasca County north of Grand Rapids.

Description: Sixteen months after getting out of jail for his third drunken driving conviction, Skubitz lost control of his truck after a night of drinking and broadsided two trees, killing the friend riding next to him, according to the criminal complaint.

Jon Michael Blaskey, 27, of Anoka, bled to death after being thrown from his seat, records show. Blaskey left behind a 4-year-old daughter.

Skubitz told police he drank five or six beers and some hard alcohol at his brother-in-law's house and at a resort bar after he and Blaskey spent the day deer hunting. From tracks in the snow, police determined that Skubitz drove erratically after leaving the bar and lost control after missing a left-hand turn at a gravel driveway.

Skubitz kicked his door open and walked up the street, leaving Blaskey pinned behind the driver's seat, witnesses said. Hospital tests showed Skubitz had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.20, more than twice the legal limit.

Status: The Associated Press reported that Skubitz pleaded guilty Monday to criminal vehicular homicide before Itasca County District Judge John Hawkinson. The county attorney’s office is seeking a nine-year, eight-month prison term. Sentencing is set for May 24.

If convicted of murder, he faces as much as 40 years in prison. He was released after posting a $200,000 bond. His driver's license was cancelled on Dec. 28.

History: He had two underage alcohol-related convictions and he was convicted of drunken driving in 2003, 2004 and 2008. He served 37 days in jail and the workhouse and spent 80 hours on an adult work crew. His license was revoked for two years. Skubitz was not allowed to drink under conditions set for getting his driver's license back in July 2008.

JANE FRIEDMANN

about this series
In Minnesota, drunken drivers who kill someone with their car sometimes get less time behind bars than nonviolent offenders. Public safety advocates say it's part of a culture of forgiveness surrounding drunken driving, a social problem that killed 893 people on Minnesota roads in the past five years. Read the Star Tribune's in-depth look at the scourge of drunken driving, the victims it claims and the public safety questions it raises.

more from this series
DWI drivers who kill can get off easy

In nearly 60 percent of cases calling for four years in prison, drivers serve a year or less in jail.
Fatal mistakes: First DWI

Repeat offenders spur outrage, but the majority of Minnesota's alcohol-related fatalities involves first-timers who aren't on the justice system's radar.
Drink, drive, arrest, repeat

In Minnesota, 46,748 drivers have at least 4 DWI arrests. They form a dangerous group that's hard to treat or punish.
Minnesota lives derailed by drunk drivers

Those injured by drunken drivers say the emotional and physical costs are lifelong. Over the last decade, more than 37,000 Minnesotans...
DWI drivers who kill can get off easy

In nearly 60 percent of cases calling for four years in prison, drivers serve a year or less in jail.
Drink, drive, arrest, repeat

In Minnesota, 46,748 drivers have at least 4 DWI arrests. They form a dangerous group that's hard to treat or punish.
Fatal mistakes: First DWI

Repeat offenders spur outrage, but the majority of Minnesota's alcohol-related fatalities involves first-timers who aren't on the justice system's radar.
Army of tragedy confronts DWIs

Some are victims, others are offenders or relatives. Every day, countless volunteers speak up, with tears and bitter grief, trying to...
Cutting off the tap to drunks is a messy business

It's illegal for bars to serve drunken people, but enforcing the law is incredibly difficult, state and local authorities are finding...
Minnesota vs. deadly DWIs: Who's winning?

Minnesota gets high marks among states for enforcement, but not for punishment. Nearly 900 people in Minnesota have been killed in...
In fight against DWIs, 2 counties focus on cause

Alcohol-related crashes are down in Anoka and Ramsey counties, where repeat offenders spend less time in jail if they quit drinking.
Driver's apology not enough for family

Kirsten Driscoll, a Minneapolis mother of three, will serve eight months in jail for killing Christopher Iverson as she drove home...
Minnesota's 'DWI guy' grew weary of the grind

Don Nichols. Minnesota's top DWI defense lawyer, walked away when the "hopelessness" got to him. | Special Project: Smashed.
Tearful drunk driver apologizes

Connie Ann Stroud didn't wait for sentencing to apologize to the couple whose fetus died in a wrong-way crash.
See the full series pageFull story