Man pleads guilty to 2 charges stemming from fatal high-speed crash

A St. Paul man who was formally charged following a deadly crash last year pleaded guilty to one count of criminal vehicular homicide and one count of criminal vehicular operation as part of a plea agreement during a hearing Monday morning.

Adam Hunter Pattishall, 23, was initially charged with two counts each of criminal vehicular homicide and criminal vehicular operation, as well as one count of third-degree drug possession in connection to the crash, which left a man dead and a woman critically injured.

As previously reported by 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS, the crash happened in mid-May of 2022 at the intersection of Brooklyn Boulevard and Country Road 81 in Brooklyn Park. The driver of the second vehicle was pronounced dead at the scene, and a passenger was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.

Charging documents state Osseo police were patrolling a parking lot at a business on the 400 block of County Road 81 when a white Chevrolet Silverado bolted out of the lot. The officer didn’t pursue but noted the vehicle — which had lettering on the side — and its occupant. The officer saw the driver run a stop sign before continuing south on County Road 81.

Just down the road, the Silverado rear-ended a Kia Sportage that witnesses say was stopped at a red light at the intersection of Brooklyn Boulevard.

One witness estimated the Silverado was traveling 70 mph; the speed limit in the area is 45 mph, according to the complaint. Another witness told police she did not see brake lights activated on the Silverado before the crash.

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Emergency responders pronounced the driver of the Sportage dead at the scene. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the victim as 57-year-old Daniel Joseph Fisher of Maple Grove.

A woman in the front passenger’s seat of the Sportage was taken to the hospital in critical condition. The complaint states she has undergone several emergency surgeries and suffered a brain bleed and a fractured back.

Witnesses said they saw the driver of the Silverado get out and run toward some businesses in the area, and officers eventually found Pattishall leaving a nearby gas station.

The complaint adds that 12.6 grams of a substance that tested positive for methamphetamine and fentanyl was found on Pattishall, who told police he had ingested heroin before his arrest. The Silverado Pattishall was driving had been stolen earlier that morning during a burglary of a business, charging documents state.

A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for May 5.