A 55-year-old Litchfield, Minnesota, man is dead, and the driver of the vehicle he was a passenger in has been charged with criminal vehicular homicide after leaving the accident scene.
On November 7, a deer hunter reported finding a damaged vehicle, a Ford truck, at Six Hundred Road, west of the Sawbill Trail, around 6 a.m. Saturday morning. That same vehicle had been involved in a high-speed pursuit by police in Lake County overnight Friday.
Authorities believe Rodney Arlen Earnest, 36, was driving the truck and William Jay Evans, the deceased victim, was his passenger when the accident occurred. According to the police report Earnest was driving on the Six Hundred Road, near fire number 720, when he lost control of the vehicle, went off the road, rolled over and struck a tree.
First Responders arrived to find the truck damaged and Evans deceased on the roadway. An official cause of death has not yet been confirmed. Evans body has been transported to the Ramsey Medical Examiner.
Police determined Evans was a passenger in the vehicle, while Earnest, who had left the scene, had been the driver.
An investigation led deputies to a residence in Lake County, where Earnest was arrested. He is now being held in the Cook County jail.
Police state Earnest admitted to consuming alcohol, but blood alcohol results were not yet available Sunday, and the investigation is ongoing. The Minnesota State Patrol sent an accident Reconstructionist to the scene.
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