A Mahtomedi man pleaded guilty Monday to five charges relating to a drunken driving crash in August that critically injured a Woodbury teenager.
Man pleads guilty to 5 charges in Woodbury drunken driving crash
March 22, 2011 at 1:37AM
Edward Thomas Jaworski, 38, was driving at least 80 miles per hour when he crashed into three cars waiting at a stoplight in the eastbound lane of Valley Creek Road, the criminal complaint said.
Jaworski pleaded guilty to the charges "straight up," said Washington County Attorney Peter Orput, meaning prosecutors didn't offer a plea deal.
"This has become a major public issue," Orput said of Jaworski's record of drunken driving problems. A few months after the accident, Jaworski was charged in Ramsey County with first-degree DWI refusal to submit to chemical test, a felony.
Jaworski pleaded guilty Monday before Washington County District Judge Susan Miles to two felony counts of criminal vehicular homicide or operation resulting in great bodily harm, a third felony count of criminal vehicular homicide or operation with an alcohol concentration of .08 or more, a gross misdemeanor DWI, and a gross misdemeanor of driving without a license.
Sentencing will be May 23.
According to the complaint, Jaworski consumed several drinks at a Woodbury restaurant and left when they refused to serve him more. He then went through a red light and sped east until the collision at the intersection of Valley Creek and Woodbury Drive on Aug. 22. Sean Fitzpatrick, 17, riding in the first car that Jaworski hit, suffered severe head injuries. Two other occupants of that car also were injured.
Tests showed that Jaworski, who had four prior alcohol-related driver's license revocations, had a blood-alcohol content of .24, three times the legal limit for a driver.
Kevin Giles
