A motorist has died after his car was rammed from behind by a driver who was drinking before operating a motor home on a west-metro highway, authorities said.

Paul Dahlstrom, 35, of St. Michael, suffered head and neck injuries in the crash Thursday afternoon on Hwy. 12 west of Independence and died two days later at North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale, the Hennepin County medical examiner's office said Monday.

The mobile home's driver, Toby S. Giese, 42, of Kandiyohi, Minn., and his wife, Michelle M. Giese, 43, escaped without injury after the recreational vehicle hit the car and then flipped, according to West Hennepin Public Safety. The motor home was towing an enclosed trailer.

The car had slowed to make a left turn, and Toby Giese did not see the smaller vehicle in time, authorities said.

Charges against the motor home's driver are pending. West Hennepin Public Safety Director Greg Kroells said officers "smelled alcohol on [Toby Giese's] breath, and he said he was consuming alcohol prior to the crash."

Results from a blood-alcohol test administered to Toby Giese were expected in several weeks, Kroells said.

Jenni Pinkley, Star Tribune
Wreckage from a crash near Independence. The motor home hit the car from behind on Hwy. 12.

Hwy. 12 was closed for about four hours while the vehicles' occupants were checked by emergency personnel and the wreckage was towed from the scene.

Paul Walsh