Two North Branch teens were hospitalized over the weekend after they were struck by a driver and authorities say alcohol was involved.
18-year-old Couy Jensen hit a deer on I-35 Saturday night and stalled out on the shoulder near North Branch. He and the passenger, 19-year-old Michael Pascavage, exited the vehicle following their collision with the animal.
Shortly afterwards, a Chevy Malibu, driven by 24-year-old Nicholas Otto of Lester Prairie, slammed into the stalled Jeep and the two teens.
All three people involved were taken to Regions in St. Paul with non-life threatening injuries.
The State Patrol says that there was alcohol in Otto’s system when he hit the stationary vehicle but did not specify if he was over the legal limit.