ROCHESTER, Minn. 鈥� The Olmsted County Attorney's Office filed a notice to seek an aggravated sentence for the Rochester man charged with killing an 18-year-old in a drunken crash in February.
Sterling Haukom, 34, is charged in Olmsted County District Court with felony criminal vehicular homicide and driving while intoxicated.
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Erika Cruz, 18, was on her way home from work on Feb. 24 when her vehicle was hit at the intersection of Eighth Avenue and 12th Street Southeast. She died as a result of her injuries. Cruz's family and friends days after her death at the intersection where the crash occurred.
The Olmsted County Attorney's Office filed an amended motion for an aggravated sentence on Tuesday, March 23. Prosecutors had filed a similar motion on March 9, prior to the completion of the forensic analysis of Haukom's blood sample.
"The State of Minnesota alleges that there is a combination of factors that make the defendant鈥檚 conduct significantly more serious than typically involved in the commission of the offense(s) in question," the motion reads.
The analysis of Haukom's blood sample found an alcohol concentration of approximately 0.25 grams per milliliters of blood. Haukom reportedly told police after the crash that he had approximately 15 drinks and admitted to driving fast because he was angry about an incident at a bar.
Haukom described his conduct as "smashing on the gas" and a review of the vehicle's crash data retrieval system showed that the accelerator pedal was at 100 percent for approximately 14 seconds before impact, the motion states. The vehicle's crash data retrieval system also calculated the vehicle was traveling more than 60 mph at the time of the impact.
"That sustained acceleration and high speed were attained by the defendant on Eighth Avenue SE, an otherwise quiet residential street with a speed limit of 30 mph," the motion reads.
Haukom has been held at the Olmsted County Adult Detention Center on $30,000 conditional bail and $100,000 unconditional bail.
