A Florida man contends that his girlfriend's jealousy-fueled attack — and not his intoxication — forced his car into a central Minnesota lake where the woman was found dead.

David S. Hamil, 42, of Cape Coral, was charged Monday with criminal vehicular homicide in the death of Holly N. Homewood, 29, about 1:30 a.m. Friday on the east side of Franklin Lake, about 10 miles northeast of Pelican Rapids. Hamil remains jailed ahead of a court appearance July 21.

Hamil smelled of alcohol and his speech was slurred, but he would not allow Otter Tail County sheriff's deputies to give him a preliminary breath test to measure his degree of intoxication, the complaint added.

He said he had two drinks that evening and had taken a prescription drug earlier that evening that mimics some effects of drinking, the court document continued.

"The mixing of alcohol with the prescription drugs … may have unexpected effects," the charge read.

According to the complaint:

Hamil said he and Homewood, while staying at a cabin for the week, were at a bar where a woman hugged him.

He described his girlfriend as a jealous person, prompting her to hit him six or seven times as he drove.

Approaching a curve on southbound County Road 31, Hamil continued, he lost sight of the road and went into the lake. He said he got out of the car and tried in vain to find Homewood.

Hamil told a sheriff's deputy that he was not a drinker, had two drinks that night at an outdoor bar and was driving because his girlfriend was intoxicated.

He repeatedly refused to submit to a breath test but was forced to submit to a blood draw to measure his alcohol consumption. Results of that are pending.

Also, when asked about whether he had a history of drinking and driving, he did not mention a drunken-driving conviction on his record from last year in Texas.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482