WILLMAR -- Jay Douglas Goedert, 19, of Willmar, was sentenced Wednesday in Kandiyohi County District Court to five years of probation, a $1,000 fine and 30 days in jail for fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle.
The charge stemmed from an Aug. 25 police pursuit and crash in Spicer that left the operator of another motorcycle with a traumatic brain in-jury. Judge Donald M. Spilseth also ordered Goedert to write a letter of apology to Nathan John Rogalski, the 22-year-old Spicer man who is now living in a Paynesville nursing home.
Goedert was also ordered to repeat that apology to Rogalski on each anniversary date of the incident.
According to the complaint, Goedert ran from the scene of the accident and watched from a distance as emergency medical personnel attended to Rogalski, who was airlifted to St. Cloud Hospital. After Goedert was arrested, he told officers he ran because his license was revoked.
Before handing down the sentence, Spilseth questioned the 19-year-old about driving that night. The plan was to have some fun on a pair of sport motorcycles, Goedert said, and not take any main roads.
ADVERTISEMENT
"I wasn't thinking straight," he said. "I was thinking of having some fun."
Goedert told the judge that he had been to see Rogalski and that conversation with him is slow and challenging because of his injury. Goedert's attorney, Michael Kinney, told the court that his client feels bad about the crash and has apologized personally to Rogalski.
Goedert received a stay of imposition on his sentence. If he complies with the court conditions, the conviction will be reduced to a misdemeanor after five years.
He was also sentenced to 30 days in jail, to be served consecutively with jail time for probation violations on an April driving while impaired conviction. He must report to the county jail on Jan. 2 to begin serving his sentence.
As part of a plea agreement, a gross misdemeanor charge of failing to stop for an accident and misdemeanor charges of driving after revocation and careless driving were dismissed. Rogalski was originally charged with a felony for fleeing an officer, two gross misdemeanors for driving while impaired and a misdemeanor for driving after revocation. Those charges were dismissed Nov. 28 by the county attorney's office.
According to postings by family members on Rogalski's Caring Bridge Web site, he was to return to Wednesday Koronis Manor in Paynesville from St. Cloud Hospital. He had surgery Friday to install a shunt to drain fluid from his brain.
The nonprofit Caring Bridge offers free Web sites -- linked from www.caringbridge.org -- that allow patients and families to share information during any type of health crisis.
