Man, 49, charged with DWI in fatal crash

Article by: Star Tribune
Updated: January 28, 2009 - 8:33 PM

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A 49-year-old man with a history of drunken driving is now charged in northern Minnesota with being intoxicated when his pickup truck and another vehicle collided head-on, killing the driver of the second vehicle.

Robert L. McGrath, formerly of Akeley, Minn., and now listing a Minneapolis address, was charged Tuesday in Hubbard County with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide and one court of second-degree drunken driving.

Killed in the collision on the afternoon of Jan. 21 was Dale McDougall, 53, of Hitterdal, Minn.

According to the criminal complaint, a trooper responding to the scene said McGrath smelled of alcohol and was slurring his speech. The trooper said he asked McGrath whether he had been drinking, and McGrath responded, "More than I should have."

Results of a blood-alcohol test on McGrath are pending.

McGrath has had two previous impaired-driving incidents since 2001, the complaint said. He also was convicted in 1992 of drunken driving in Hennepin County.

The collision occurred on Hwy. 34 east of Nevis. According to authorities, McGrath's truck, heading west, went into the eastbound lane and struck McDougall's pickup.

PAUL WALSH