Woman pleads guilty for drunken driving crash that killed ex-husband
Bobbie Jo Braun Puttbrese (Dakota County Jail)
A 53-year-old woman pleaded guilty Tuesday in connection with a drunken driving crash that killed her ex-husband in South St. Paul in June.
Bobbie Jo Braun entered guilty pleas for one count of criminal vehicular homicide and two counts of criminal vehicular operation. Court records also name her Bobbie Jo Puttbrese.
As previously reported, police responded to the crash around 3:20 p.m. on June 5, on Concord Street near Chestnut Street. An officer found Braun sitting on the sidewalk near the crash.
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According to a criminal complaint, she showed signs of intoxication and admitted to being drunk. Her blood-alcohol concentration was .201, more than twice the legal limit.
Braun also told police that she was driving the van involved in the crash and hit the other vehicle involved, court documents said.
Paul Edward Craven, 61, Braun’s ex-husband who was in the front passenger seat of the van, was taken to a hospital but later died.
Two others were taken to the hospital for injuries sustained in the crash.
The driver of the truck and a witness both told police that the van crossed the center lane and hit the truck head-on, which was confirmed by watching surveillance video from a nearby business.
Court records note that Braun has prior misdemeanor convictions for intoxicated driving in 1993 and 2000.