A 46-year-old Hibbing man has been charged after allegedly hitting a jogger while driving drunk in Itasca County and fleeing the scene.
Michael John Estey is charged with criminal vehicular operation, leaving the scene of a personal injury accident and driving while impaired. Estey has four prior DWI convictions, along with numerous additional criminal convictions, records show.
Estey was driving a van about 10:30 p.m. Friday on Itasca County Road 5 north of Effie when he struck Alan Lee Jongerius head-on while he jogged on the side of the road, according to court documents.
Estey allegedly stopped at the scene, got out of his vehicle and asked a witness what he had hit. The man, who was identified as a friend of Jongerius, reportedly told Estey, "You just hit my friend."
Then Estey reportedly fled the scene in his van.
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Jongerius suffered broken legs, internal abdominal bleeding, severe cuts on his head and significant abrasions, documents said. He was flown to Essentia Health St. Mary's Medical Center in Duluth, where he was listed in good condition Wednesday.
An Itasca County deputy later located Estey's "severely damaged" van at a campground about five miles away and Estey was found nearby. About six hours after the incident, Estey took a breathalyzer test that showed his blood alcohol level to be 0.10 percent. The legal limit is 0.08 percent in Minnesota.
Estey appeared in Itasca County Court on Monday and bail was set at $100,000 without conditions or $50,000 with conditions including electronic home monitoring.
