Unlicensed driver admits to fatal crash while fleeing deputy in Becker

A man with a penchant for driving on a revoked license has admitted to fleeing a sheriff’s deputy in a stolen pickup truck while high and causing a multi-vehicle crash in Sherburne County that killed another motorist.

Bradley Alfred Allen Johnson, 21, of Montrose, Minn., pleaded guilty Thursday in Sherburne County District Court to causing great bodily harm while fleeing police and various other counts in connection with the four-vehicle wreck on July 6 in Becker on Hwy. 10 near Liberty Lane that killed Christopher James Vyskocil, 36.

The plea agreement between the prosecution and defense calls for Johnson to receive a term of 13⅓ years. With credit for time in jail after his arrest, Johnson is expected to serve the first 8½ years in prison and the balance on supervised release. Sentencing is scheduled for March 7.

At the time of the crash, Johnson was driving after having his license revoked by the state, a Department of Public Safety spokesman said.

Court records show that he’s been convicted three times this year for the same offense, twice in a one-week span in May. He’s also been convicted twice this year for driving without insurance and was caught twice last year for speeding.

“Our justice system failed my husband,” Brittany Vyskocil told the Star Tribune. “While this is not the outcome that allows for the feeling of justice prevailing, it is the end of a chapter I wish I didn’t have to write.”

While still at the scene, Johnson admitted to doing heroin about five hours earlier, according to the criminal complaint. A law enforcement search of his clothing turned up drug paraphernalia, the criminal complaint read.

A sheriff’s deputy spotted a pickup truck that was reported stolen as it headed out of St. Cloud on eastbound Hwy. 10. The deputy started pursuing the pickup at speeds topping 100 miles per hour.

After entering Becker, the deputy saw that the pickup had struck a gasoline pump at a Speedway at Hwy. 10 and Liberty Lane.

A state trooper arrived and spotted Vyskocil’s badly damaged car on westbound Hwy. 10. An unconscious Vyskocil was in the vehicle. Emergency medical responders took him to North Memorial Health Hospital in Robbinsdale. He died nine days later.