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A man accused of operating his snowmobile while drunk and striking an 8-year-old boy on a Chisago County lake is facing new charges because the child has died.

Forty-five-year-old Eric Coleman is now facing criminal vehicular homicide, criminal vehicular operation and drunken driving. Alan Geisenkoetter Jr., of Wyoming, 

 at the hospital. The second-grader was critically injured a week ago when he was struck and dragged by a snowmobile on Chisago Lake where he was going ice fishing with his family.

Coleman also faced drunken driving charges in Anoka County filed in November, and has three prior alcohol-related license revocations.

Court records say a State Patrol trooper at the scene smelled alcohol on Coleman and asked him to take a preliminary breath test. The trooper says Coleman refused but later told his health care providers that he was drinking before the crash.

Coleman, who was wearing a helmet and was conscious, was taken to the hospital where his blood was drawn about three hours later. Court records did not reveal his blood alcohol content.

Crime, Law and Justice

The Associated Press

Author

Nina Moini

A man accused of operating his snowmobile while drunk and striking an 8-year-old boy on a Chisago County lake is facing new charges because the child has died.


Charges upgraded in boy's death on Chisago Lake

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