Charges weighed against driver who mowed down tent, killing 2 kids
Authorities in North Dakota said on Monday that they are weighing criminal charges against a man who drove his pickup truck over a tent in a campground, killing two children and injuring two others.
Officials will decide soon whether to charge Juan Acosta, 30, of Newburg, N.D., Assistant State’s Atty. Swain Benson said in a telephone interview with the Los Angeles Times. The prosecutor said several charges could be forthcoming, but it was too soon to know the details.
Juan Ruiz, 28, of El Paso, Texas, was camping with three children in a tent at the Hahn’s Bay campground at Lake Metigoshe. Around 1 a.m., a 2006 Ford F-250 Super Crew pickup drove onto the camp site and ran over the tent before crashing into a tree, according to a news release from the North Dakota Highway Patrol.
Acosta, who is in custody, was driving the vehicle and sustained minor injuries, authorities said. There were two passengers in the truck but neither was injured.
According to officials, a 5-year-old boy and a 9-year-old boy were pronounced dead at St. Andrew’s Hospital in Bottineau, N.D. The other 9-year-old boy was hospitalized with minor injuries, officials said. Neither their names nor relationships were released.
Ruiz was taken by helicopter to Trinity Hospital in Minot, N.D., where he was being treated for serious injuries.
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