Bar owner was 4 times the legal limit

Published 9:56 am Friday, May 18, 2012

Bar owner Michael Skov, who died in a car crash in April on Minnesota Highway 13, had a blood-alcohol content of over four times the legal limit, according to officials Thursday.

Skov

According to Minnesota State Patrol Sgt. Christina Krueger, Michael “Bass” Skov’s blood alcohol content was 0.34 when he collided head-on with a 2008 Cadillac CTS. The legal limit is 0.08.

The State Patrol has not released the full report, as it awaits on details of the crash reconstruction. There is no timeframe on when the report could be released.

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Skov’s death certificate stated his death was caused by heart failure; however, it also listed other factors that contributed to the heart attack. It first listed chronic alcoholism with acute alcohol intoxication, a condition that follows the ingestion of a large amount of alcohol. Some medical sources even refer to acute alcohol intoxication as alcohol poisoning.

The American Heart Association states excessive drinking can lead to stroke, high blood pressure and sudden cardiac death — thought it has not been confirmed that was Skov’s case.

Other factors the death certificate listed were “cigarette smoking, obesity, diabetes mellitus, multiple blunt force injuries due to perimortem motor vehicle crash.”

According to reports, Skov, 47, was driving a 1993 Buick LeSabre north on Highway 13 about 1 1/2 miles north of Albert Lea on April 14 when he crossed into the southbound lane and collided head on with the Cadillac just after 10:30 p.m. In the Cadillac were driver Alex Kast, 17, and passengers Chaz Mithun, 16, and Jeremy Hyman, 27. They were treated at the hospital in Albert Lea and released the next day.

The release of the blood-alcohol content comes four days after State Patrol officials released preliminary information that alcohol was in Skov’s system.

Skov owned the Bend in the Road bar in Manchester. He resided in the town, too, but was living temporarily in New Richland to help his parents, Patricia and Duane Skov. Duane suffers from Parkinson’s disease.

“He was taking care of all the guy stuff,” she told the Tribune.

The crash has been a lightning rod in the community. On one side, people remember his warm, giving and kind personality. There was an instant and wide outpouring of sorrow following his death, with people rushing to his defense. On the other side, people say Skov endangered the lives of the two boys and one man when he decided to get behind the wheel of a motor vehicle while drunk, plus anyone else on the road that night.