Jun 23, 2010
Archived: DNA Tests Tell New Story After Deadly Crash
A man who told central Minnesota police he was the driver in a drunken crash that killed a teen may have been the passenger instead. Police found Timothy Rausch and Eugene Rivetts standing outside their battered Hummer on County Road 17 near Opole last August. Nearby, 19-year-old Ryan DeZurik was dead in his smashed car. Rausch told officers he’d been driving. His blood-alcohol level was more than four times the legal limit.
But court documents say DNA from the driver’s-side air bag matches Rivetts. Rausch’s attorney is asking a judge to dismiss vehicular-homicide charges against his client. Rivetts was involved in a previous drunken crash in 1989 in which his passenger initially told police she’d been the one driving. A message left for Rivetts on Wednesday was not immediately returned.







































