Charges possible after Cottage Grove driver flees fiery crash

A Cottage Grove man could face criminal charges after police say he caused an accident and then distracted good Samaritans so that he could run from the scene.

The 29-year-old man was arrested and jailed shortly after the Jan. 14 incident, but formal criminal charges have not been filed as authorities await toxicology lab results. They allege the driver was under the influence of a drug.

According to the police report:

The man was driving south on Jamaica Avenue shortly before 6 p.m. Jan. 14 when he rear-ended another vehicle. The suspect’s car started on fire. Two good Samaritans stopped and helped remove the suspect and his dog from the vehicle that was on fire, the report said.

Then the suspect told the two men who assisted him — one was an off-duty Woodbury police officer — that a second person was in the burning vehicle. As they checked for another occupant, the suspect ran from the scene.

Police found him a short time later at his home in the 9200 block of Indian Boulevard. The man was booked into Washington County jail on suspicion of leaving the scene of an accident, inattentive driving and driving after suspension.

There were indications he was under the influence of a drug, police said. A blood-alcohol test indicated no alcohol in his system.

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