Man sentenced to probation in mail truck crash that injured carrier
Alan Lynn Birt
A man who was charged with first-degree assault and criminal vehicular operation after crashing into a mail truck last year was sentenced on Monday.
Court records show that 57-year-old Alan Lynn Birt, of Bovey, was sentenced to three years of probation. He was also sentenced to 18 months at the St. Cloud Correctional Facility but that was stayed for three years and is likely to be waived as long as he doesn’t violate his probation. He’d already served 362 days in local confinement.
He’ll also have to pay $10,375.60 in restitution.
Birt had previously pleaded guilty to criminal vehicular operation. The first-degree assault charge was dismissed.
A criminal complaint says officers responded to an accident report on Dorchester Drive in Hoyt Lakes at about 10:53 a.m. on May 8, 2019. When officers arrived, witnesses said Birt had been driving his new 3/4 ton truck with a push bumper and winch. Witnesses told officers they thought the truck was "maxed out" judging by how the truck sounded as it came down the road, and one estimated the truck to have been going 80 mph when it struck the mail truck.
Complaint: Man crashes into mail truck, seriously injuring carrier, because he was upset with USPS
The collision ejected a mail carrier from the mail truck onto the road, seriously injuring the 55-year-old carrier, who suffered a life-threatening head injury, including a skull fracture and four broken ribs, according to police.
Police said Birt later admitted he was upset with USPS and intentionally crashed into the mail truck knowing a carrier was inside, the complaint states. When asked about the crash while he was at the hospital, Birt allegedly said, "Yeah, I killed that (expletive) useless mail carrier." After officers said the crash didn’t kill the woman, Birt responded, "Well, someone should," the complaint states.