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Background: The road in St. Cloud, Minn., where Christopher Otte allegedly hit a vehicle carrying a pregnant woman (Google Maps). Inset: Christopher Otte (Stearns County Sheriff”s Office).
A man from Minnesota has allegedly confessed to causing a tragic head-on collision that resulted in a pregnant woman losing her unborn child.
Christopher James Otte, aged 32, faces charges of two counts of vehicular homicide while under the influence after authorities reported that he drove his SUV into a car driven by a 34-year-old woman who was in the late stages of her pregnancy on February 13. According to the St. Cloud Police Department, the woman was transported to the hospital in critical condition, where she tragically lost her baby.
As per the criminal complaint obtained by local ABC affiliate KSTP, Otte admitted to the police at the crash site, stating, “It was my fault.”
Witnesses recounted to officers that they observed Otte’s SUV speeding through a St. Cloud neighborhood just prior to the accident, which occurred shortly before 1 p.m. Surveillance footage allegedly captured Otte ignoring a stop sign at a nearby intersection.
Upon arriving at the scene, police discovered the woman trapped between her steering wheel and the dashboard, according to the complaint. As officers attempted to assist her, the vehicle caught fire. She was eventually rescued from the car and taken to the hospital, where she remains in critical condition.
Otte remained at the scene, and appeared to be unsteady with slurred speech, police said. The criminal complaint said that a preliminary breath test revealed his BAC was 0.201, more than twice the legal limit. Despite that reading, Otte told police he only had two drinks that morning.
Police said he was able to recall the events of the crash, saying, “It was my fault,” and adding that he knew he “hit her straight on.”
KSTP reported that this was not Otte’s first drunk driving arrest. He had been convicted of DWI in 2019.
Otte was charged with vehicular homicide while operating a vehicle under the influence. He is being held in the Stearns County Jail without bond. His next court date is scheduled for March 16.