Driver charged in Minnesota crash that killed 2 firefighters
Updated: 5:20 p.m. | Posted: 11:32 a.m.
Authorities in Anoka County filed felony charges Monday against the driver of a fire truck involved in a fatal crash this weekend.
Two firefighters from Michigan's Upper Peninsula were killed on Interstate 35W in Blaine on Saturday. They were part of a crew headed to Utah to fight the Box Canyon wildfire. The Minnesota State Patrol said their truck left the road, struck the median cable barriers, and rolled.
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The Anoka County Attorney's Office charged one of the firefighters, Michael Allen Johnson, 28, with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide.
According to the criminal complaint, law enforcement officers "noted signs of impairment and combative behavior." Test results are pending on a sample of Johnson's blood.
Johnson allegedly told investigators that he'd slept just 45 minutes in the 28 hours before the crash and had used cocaine on Thursday.
Prosecutors also say Johnson "believed he fell asleep while driving and woke up to his passenger yelling at him as he veered off the road." The complaint says the truck's cab and box separated during the crash. One of the eight passengers had been in the cab with Johnson and was transported to Mercy Hospital in stable condition.
Seven others, including the two men killed, had been in the truck's box area. James F. Shelifoe Jr., 23, was pronounced dead at the scene. Alan J. Swartz, 25, was pronounced dead at Mercy Hospital shortly after he arrived.
All were part of the Beartown Firefighters, a wildfire crew based in Baraga, Mich. and managed by the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and Bureau of Indian Affairs.
In a statement, the Ojibwe community says 11 firefighters had been traveling in a convoy on the day of the crash. According to its Facebook page, the community is planning a procession for Shelifoe and Swartz when their bodies are returned to Baraga on Tuesday.