New London man fails to appear in court

WILLMAR - A warrant has been issued for the arrest of a 28-year-old New London man who failed to appear Wednesday on charges stemming from an accident in June that injured both himself and his passenger.
Cory Michael Schmitz faces two charges of felony criminal vehicular operation and two charges of gross misdemeanor driving while impaired for allegedly driving drunk and rolling his vehicle, causing injuries to himself and a 14-year-old passenger.
Court records say Schmitz failed to make his first appearance on the charges Wednesday in Kandiyohi County District Court and a warrant has been issued.
According to the criminal complaint, the Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched on June 28 to Fifth Street Northwest, north of 240th Avenue, in rural New London upon a report of a vehicle rollover with two injuries.
A deputy saw an overturned white pickup truck and two males lying in the ditch. The deputy spoke with Schmitz and observed an alcoholic odor on his breath and noticed he had slurred speech, the complaint states. Schmitz was complaining of back, leg, arm and rib pain and was transported to Rice Memorial Hospital in Willmar.
The 14-year-old passenger was transported to Rice Hospital where X-rays revealed a shoulder fracture, rib fracture, spinal fractures and other injury. He was then flown to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis for further treatment.
A woman arrived at the accident scene who reported to the sergeant that Schmitz was the driver as her 16-year-old daughter had just received a ride home from him.
After she received a text from her daughter stating he was driving her home, she immediately went to pick up her daughter, the complaint states. As she was going outside, she saw Schmitz approaching in his pickup, which was swerving all over the road.
The deputy obtained a search warrant for a sample of Schmitz’s blood and traveled to Rice Memorial Hospital. It was reported that Schmitz told the deputy a dog came running out, the truck swerved and rolled into the ditch. The blood sample was sent to the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for testing and revealed a 0.176 alcohol content, just over twice the legal limit of 0.08 percent.