MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A 19-year-old Sleepy Eye man faces two misdemeanor charges in connection to a crash that killed four people in March, according to the Brown County Attorney’s Office.
On Friday, Kansas Taylor Adams was specifically charged with failure to use due care and allowing over 1.4 grams of marijuana to be in his motor vehicle.
On March 7 at roughly 8:18 p.m., Adams lost control of his Pontiac on an icy curve while traveling westbound on Highway 14 near Sleepy Eye. A witness, who was traveling behind Adams, says he saw Adams’ vehicle accelerate after leaving the city limits before it lost control.
Officials said after losing control, Adams’ car then crossed into the eastbound lane and was broadsided by a Dodge pickup truck driven by 43-year-old Douglas Wiborg of New Ulm, Minn.
All four of Adams’ passengers were killed: 17-year-old Payton Adams of Sleepy Eye, 17-year-old Caleb Quesenberry of St. Peter, 18-year-old John Mangen of Fairfax and 20-year-old Tyler Hadley of Sleepy Eye. Adams was critically injured at the time of the crash.
Wiborg was driving with his two children. All three sustained non-life threatening injuries.
Troopers later found 3 grams of marijuana and paraphernalia inside Adams’ vehicle. Adams later admitted to having marijuana in his car, but said it did not belong to him.
If convicted, Adams could face up to 90 days in jail and a maximum fine of $1,000 per charge.
