An Esko woman who left the scene of an accident after striking and injuring a bicyclist while driving home from church last year received a sentence of 18 months in prison, but the sentence will be stayed for five years.
Carol Emily Nygren, 70, appeared before Judge Dale Wolf in Carlton County Court on Wednesday after pleading guilty to one felony charge of criminal vehicular operation for leaving the scene of an accident.
Wolf ordered that Nygren undergo five years of supervised probation, serve 90 days local confinement with credit for three days served, undergo a mental health screening, write a letter of apology, pay restitution, abstain from alcohol or controlled substance use, undergo random testing and pay court fees of $660.
According to the criminal complaint, Nygren was driving near Esko on her way home from church the morning of June 16, 2013, when she struck a bicyclist at the corner of Carlton County Road 61 and Rolling Acres Road, which threw him onto the hood of her car and into the windshield on the passenger side. Nygren then drove away from the scene of the accident.
Nygren was not questioned until the next day, when she denied responsibility for the incident, though her car appeared to have sustained significant damage.
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The complaint stated that Nygren told authorities she'd been following a truck hauling gravel and that falling rocks had been responsible for the damage. She later pleaded guilty to the incident in Carlton County Court.
The victim, Michael Howard Norton, 44, of Duluth sustained multiple skull fractures from the incident as well as broken bones and internal injuries. He said the internal injuries qualify as "grave bodily harm," which enhances the degree of severity of the crime. Norton has had multiple brain surgeries since the incident and continues to suffer from traumatic brain injury-like symptoms and seizures.
