Brief jail term for onetime Twin Cities deputy who was drunk, caused off-duty crash that injured 7

A short jail term has been given to a onetime Washington County sheriff’s deputy who was drunk while off-duty and caused a head-on collision near Afton that injured a couple and five children.

Campbell Johnston Blair, 59, of Hastings was sentenced Tuesday in Washington County District Court to four months in jail after pleading guilty to two counts of criminal vehicular operation in connection with the collision on Oct. 27, 2024, on Hwy. 95 at Scenic Lane.

A state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) investigation found that Blair’s blood alcohol content was 0.089% at the time of the wreck, slightly above the legal limit for driving in Minnesota. BCA testing also detected in his system the sedative Ambien, a drug used to treat insomnia.

Blair, who was in uniform when the crash occurred, was put on administrative leave shortly after the collision and left the Sheriff’s Office on Feb. 1.

The deputy was heading north in his Subaru Crosstrek, crossed into the opposite lane and collided with a southbound Ford Expedition, the State Patrol said.

Blair and two of the other vehicle’s occupants, 38-year-old Erik Robert Sward and 36-year-old Heather Lynn Sward, both of Lake Elmo, were taken to St. Paul’s Regions Hospital with noncritical injuries, according to the patrol.

The patrol said the five children with the Swards, ages 2-9, suffered minor injuries.

Witnesses behind Blair reported his vehicle continuously going from lane to lane for 2 miles amid heavy traffic.

Blair had his duty vest and pistol on the front passenger seat. He told a trooper he had worked from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. at Regions Hospital and had been called back.

However, the investigation revealed that Blair had not been summoned back to the hospital for additional duties.

Blair had been a deputy with the Sheriff’s Office since 2020 and was assigned to the court security unit.

Erik Sward’s mother shared on Facebook that her son and his family were heading to an apple orchard to celebrate the 2nd birthday of the couple’s daughter when the crash occurred.