19-year-old dies in ATV crash; 1 charged for providing alcohol to a minor
A man is in jail and facing criminal charges for allegedly supplying alcohol to a minor after a 19-year-old died in an ATV crash.
The fatal crash happened around 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 9, on East Steamboat Forest Road in Steamboat River Township, which is west of the City of Walker in northern Minnesota.
The Hubbard County Sheriff's Office was told the 19-year-old ATV driver suffered "substantial injuries" and CPR was being carried out. Medics arrived a short time later but were unable to save the teen, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
The victim has been identified as Brandon Czanstkowksi, of Buffalo, Minnesota.
Czanstkowski and eight others were riding ATVs eastbound on the roadway "at a high rate of speed" when Czanstkowski lost control around a curve and struck a tree.
"Czanstkowski was wearing a helmet but sustained major head trauma from the impact," the sheriff's office reports, noting that "alcohol appeared to be a factor in the crash."
Twenty-one-year-old Tyler Willette, of Watertown, Minnesota, was arrested and booked into the Hubbard County Jail. He's been charged with a felony for providing alcohol to a person under the age of 21.
Charging documents say Willette admitted to buying alcohol and providing it to others in the group, including Czanstkowski.
Results of an autopsy to determine toxicology levels in the victim have not been released.
