A 24-year-old man from Oak Grove has pleaded guilty to four felony charges stemming from a November car accident where he was allegedly driving drunk and caused serious injuries to a mother and her three children.
Brandon Thomas Rossmeisl pleaded guilty before Judge James Dehn Feb. 10 in Isanti County District Court in Cambridge to two felony counts of criminal vehicular operation causing great bodily harm, under influence of alcohol; and two felony counts of criminal vehicular operation causing substantial bodily harm, with gross negligence. Sentencing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. April 7.
“The defendant, Mr. Rossmeisl, entered pleas of guilty to all counts in the complaint as it related to all four victims,” Isanti County Attorney Jeff Edblad said. “Since the defendant entered a straight plea on all counts, terms and conditions of the sentence will be up to the court following a pre-sentence investigation by the Minnesota Department of Corrections. Under the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines, this would be a presumptive probationary sentence and not a presumptive commit to prison sentence.”
Edblad said he appreciated the efforts of the emergency responders who arrived on scene.
“I appreciate the work of the first responders on the scene of this crash and believe that their skilled attention to the victims prevented this tragedy from becoming an even greater one, as well as the work of the Isanti County Sheriff’s Department and the case lead officer Sgt. Wade Book for the thorough and detailed investigation,” Edblad said.
The crash occurred around 3:45 p.m. Nov. 21 at County Road 45 (Xylite Street Northeast) approximately a half-mile south of 325th Avenue Northeast in Isanti Township. Rossmeisl was not injured in the crash and was officially charged Nov. 24.
According to the criminal complaint, Rossmeisl was driving a pickup truck southbound on Xylite Street coming into a curve when the vehicle went out beyond the center line and appeared to be going sideways as it went into the northbound lane and struck a Chevrolet Impala driven by Erica Bodell, of Cambridge. At the scene, Rossmeisl registered a 0.18 blood alcohol content on a breath test.
Seriously injured in the accident were Bodell and her three children, Kaleb, Gabriel and Havana.
A Go Fund Me account remains open to help with the medical bills the Bodell family is incurring at https://www.gofundme.com/sbbvw7wc. Updates on the family’s condition can also be found at the Go Fund Me account.