A man charged in a fatal hit-and-run crash in Bemidji, Minn., said he thought he'd struck a bear in the predawn hours on his way home from a casino.
Martin Ubert's bail was set at $120,000 last week in Beltrami County. The Clearbrook, Minn., man, arrested on his 58th birthday Aug. 2, faces charges of criminal vehicular homicide and fleeing the scene of the crash that killed 25-year-old Christopher Strong of Bemidji.
Ubert initially told authorities that he thought he'd struck a bear at 4:24 a.m. July 31 when he was driving down Grange Road after leaving the Red Lake Casino in his red Monte Carlo.
When they told Ubert that red paint flecks were found by Strong's body, Ubert changed his story.
According to a criminal complaint, he told police he thought he'd hit a bear, turned around and realized it was a person. Assuming Strong was dead, he left and failed to call police.
He was on probation for having methamphetamines in his system earlier this year after refusing a 2010 breath test.
CURT BROWN
@stribcbrown
