Charges in crash that injured Wabasha Co deputy
A Wabasha man has been charged in a Christmas Day head-on crash that left a Wabasha County sheriff's deputy severely injured.
The Winona Daily News reports Friday that 23-year-old Brandon James Lastine is charged with first-degree assault and criminal vehicular operation.
A criminal complaint says Lastine was driving a stolen vehicle in the wrong lane when he collided with Deputy Andrew Hamann's unmarked squad car. Hamann's injuries include a dislocated hip, two fractured hip sockets and a broken femur. Lastine was also severely injured.
A crash investigation shows Lastine never hit the brakes. He was neither drunk nor on drugs, but says he can't remember the crash.
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Prosecutors say Lastine made threatening comments about police in weeks before the crash. But his mother, Tracy Peterson, says her son wasn't targeting Hamann.
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Information from: Winona Daily News
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