Sheriff: Winona woman who drove into river was drunk
Published 10:16 am Wednesday, February 5, 2014
WINONA — Toxicology results show a Minnesota woman was legally drunk when she drove an SUV into the Mississippi River last month, killing herself and her three male passengers.
Winona County Sheriff Dave Brand says test results on the driver came in Tuesday. Thirty-six-year-old Christina Lee Hauser of Winona had a blood-alcohol level of 0.16 percent, twice Minnesota’s legal limit for driving.
Hauser failed to make a curve Jan. 5 and landed in the river.
Riding in the SUV were 29-year-old Matthew Patrick Erickson of Chatfield, 28-year-old Blake Overland of Stewartville and 29-year-old Andrew Kingsbury of La Crosse, Wis. Erickson was found in the vehicle with Hauser. Overland’s body was found the next day, and Kingsbury’s body was found in the river nearly two weeks later.