Inset, left to right: Izak Schermerhorn (OTCDF) and Blake Unger (GoFundMe). Background: Otter Tail County Detention Facility (Google Maps).
A teenager in Minnesota was allegedly drunk on Mike’s Hard Lemonade and showing off an exhaust modification to his pickup truck when he crashed, rolling the vehicle over and killing his friend and classmate, who was riding in the passenger seat and ended up pinned beneath the truck.
Izak Schermerhorn, 18, was taken into custody earlier this week and charged with three counts of vehicular homicide in connection with the death of Blake Unger, also 18, records show. Deputies with the Otter County Sheriff’s Office at about 10:45 p.m. on Tuesday responded to an area near the intersection of 370th Street and 640th Avenue in Bluffton Township, according to court documents obtained by Minneapolis Fox affiliate KMSP. The location is about 165 miles northwest of Minneapolis.
Upon arriving at the scene, first responders told deputies that the victim — later identified as Unger — was pinned beneath the vehicle, which remained on its side in a roadside ditch following the crash. Unger was pronounced dead on the scene.
Authorities said there was visible evidence indicating the vehicle was being driven in a reckless manner just prior to the incident.
“[A deputy] observed deep ruts in the road where it appeared the driver had been aggressively fishtailing back and forth along the gravel road before rolling,” the complaint reportedly states.
Deputies made contact with the driver, Schermerhorn, who they said smelled of alcohol and appeared to have glassy, bloodshot eyes.
When asked what happened, Schermerhorn allegedly explained that he had picked up Unger from Unger’s home and had been showing off a modification to his pickup truck, particularly the sound made by the vehicle’s exhaust.
“[Schermerhorn] said he wanted to show off the sound of his exhaust because he modified his catalytic converter,” a deputy wrote, according to a report from the Minnesota Star Tribune. “He intentionally had been sliding around the road before the crash and was not able to control the vehicle when it went into the ditch.”
After the crash, Schermerhorn reportedly phoned his mom before trying to shatter the driver’s side window of the truck, which is when he saw that his friend was wedged between the vehicle and the ground.
A breath test reportedly showed that Schermerhorn had a blood alcohol content of 0.13, well above the legal limit for individuals over age 21 to drive.
Schermerhorn reportedly told deputies that he had stopped drinking for about a year prior to the crash, but made the conscious decision to consume alcohol that evening “to celebrate” because he “was graduating from high school.”
Asked how much he had to drink, Schermerhorn reportedly responded that he had “three to four Mike’s Hard Lemonades” before allegedly decrying the effects the fatal crash would have on his own life.
“[Schermerhorn] repeatedly made statements that ‘his life was over and all for a couple of drinks,”” adding, “I f—ed up,” deputies reportedly wrote.
Unger was a recent graduate at New York Mills High School who starred in wrestling and football, Lakeland PBS reported. He was also named the school’s homecoming king. A GoFundMe for his memorial can be found here.
Schermerhorn was released from the Otter Tail County Detention Center after posting bond of $10,000, records show.
