Owatonna, MN (KROC-AM News) – A criminal complaint filed today in Steele County Court alleges that a driver distracted by his cell phone was responsible for a fatal crash that killed a well-known retired Owatonna businesswoman earlier this year.

19-year-old Hunter Joseph Conrad from Morristown was driving a pickup truck with a trailer that collided with a vehicle at an intersection north of Owatonna on May 28. The other driver, Jackie Ostlund of Owatonnawas fatally injured in the crash.

According to the indictment, Conrad was driving west on a country road when he ran a stop sign at the intersection with a two-lane highway and Ostlund’s vehicle collided with the trailer he was pulling, causing his pickup truck to go into the ditch. Court documents say he admitted to running the stop sign at the intersection, saying, “I more or less yielded, I ran it. Because I didn’t see it coming up the hill. I didn’t come to a complete stop, which is what I’m charged with.”

The lawsuit states that while Conrad denied using his cell phone, a forensic examination of the phone led investigators to conclude that Conrad “was actively using his phone in the minutes prior to the accident, if not at the time of the accident.”

Evidence in the case also includes data extracted from the airbag control unit, or so-called “black box,” in both vehicles. The prosecution says the data shows Conrad’s pickup truck was traveling between 55 and 60 miles per hour at the time of the crash. The device also indicated that the brake status was “off” in the five seconds before impact.

Conrad is charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter and was sent a summons ordering him to appear in court for arraignment in mid-September, according to court documents.

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