A 40-year-old Duluth woman who drove her car into a house, destroying the porch and causing the death of a dog in the yard has been summoned to appear in St. Louis County District Court on drunken- driving charges.
Stacy Faye Arneson is charged with two counts of third-degree driving while impaired. According to the charging document, Arneson had a blood-alcohol concentration 4½ times the legal limit to drive, or .36. She had a prior drunken-driving conviction in 1991.
The criminal complaint alleges that Arneson left the roadway northbound on 34th Avenue West, striking the street sign at the intersection with Second Street before entering the yard, hitting and shearing a tree and crashing her Lexus into the house at 213 N. 24th Ave. W. just after 1 a.m. on May 6. The defendant was breathing but unconscious when officers
arrived on the scene. When she regained consciousness, she was babbling incoherently. Her eyes were bloodshot and watery.
Police said that Arneson admitted to drinking a lot that evening. She was the lone occupant of the vehicle.
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A cell phone was found on the driver's seat and was slid open to the keyboard position. Arneson was transported to a Duluth hospital, where she agreed to provide a blood sample, which was submitted to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for analysis.
The dog was transported to an emergency vet clinic, but it had to be euthanized because of its injuries.
Firefighters responded to the accident and remained on the scene for more than 1½ hours. They had to lift up what remained of the front porch before a tow truck could pull the vehicle out.
