Lakeville motorcycle driver is charged in crash that killed his friend

Last update: September 5, 2008 - 8:46 PM

A Lakeville man faces criminal vehicular homicide charges days after his friend was killed in an early-morning Labor Day motorcycle crash.

The felony charges were filed in Dakota County District Court this week against Corey Mathew Walters, 27, who authorities suspect was drinking the night he and Denny Matthew Gragert, 28, crashed their motorcycles about 3 a.m. north of County Road 46 in Lakeville. Gragert died at the scene.

According to a criminal complaint, police arrived to find Gragert lying on the ground in a large pool of blood while Walters was parked nearby. Witnesses told police that Walters said "His buddy had lost it on his bike."

A clerk at a nearby store reported seeing the two together about two hours earlier, and that they appeared to have been drinking.

According to the complaint, Walters smelled of alcohol, failed field sobriety tests and gave a preliminary breath sample that was over the legal limit for driving. Results of a blood test are pending.

Investigators believe Walters had to quickly slow his motorcycle to round a curve when the rear tire locked, causing it to deflate. Gragert was believed to be behind Walters and couldn't slow his motorcycle in time to avoid a collision. Both were thrown from their motorcycles. Neither man was wearing a helmet, Lakeville police said.

Walters was booked into the Dakota County Jail and released Wednesday on $50,000 bond.

ABBY SIMONS

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