Charges: Driver was under influence of heroin when he struck, killed pedestrian in Duluth

The Associated Press
December 22, 2015 at 6:59PM

DULUTH, Minn. — Prosecutors say a Duluth man was under the influence of heroin when he was driving a car that struck and killed a pedestrian.

Twenty-seven-year-old David Andrew Smithson is charged with criminal vehicular homicide and driving while impaired.

The crash happened Saturday as 37-year-old Brian Jacob Respler was walking on a sidewalk on Grand Avenue. Respler was pronounced dead at the scene.

Prosecutors say Smithson's bail was set at $250,000 during an arraignment Tuesday in St. Louis County District Court.

A judge determined Smithson qualified for a public defender, but a lawyer had not been immediately assigned to his case.

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