Driver charged in Dakota Co. head-on crash that killed 2 people

RANDOLPH, Minn. (FOX 9) - A 28-year-old man is facing criminal charges after a wrong-way crash left two people dead in Dakota County. 

Seth John Nechville, of Kenyon, Minnesota, is facing two counts of criminal vehicular homicide and one count of second-degree driving while under the influence of alcohol.

According to court records, Nechville has two prior DWI convictions, from 2019 and 2023. He was discharged from probation for the 2023 conviction on Sept. 1, just days before the Sept. 6 fatal crash.

Fatal Dakota County crash

The backstory:

According to the criminal complaint, law enforcement responded to a head-on crash just after 11 a.m. on Highway 56 in the City of Randolph.  

At the scene, authorities found an SUV on fire with "catastrophic front-end damage" and a pickup truck with front-end damage that was facing northbound in the southbound lane.

According to the complaint, bystanders removed two people from the SUV, 68-year-old Peter Foxvog Olson and 49-year-old Patricia Ann Olson. Despite life-saving efforts, they were both pronounced dead at the scene. 

Just minutes before the crash, authorities noted a complaint was called in regarding a driver heading the wrong way on the two-lane highway. Officers at the scene observed what appeared to be break marks from the pickup truck in the wrong lane, charges explained.

At the scene, witnesses identified Nechville as the driver of the pickup truck. An officer reported smelling alcohol coming from Nechville, and noted his eyes appeared bloodshot and watery, the complaint alleges.  

Initially, Nechville denied drinking any alcohol, and reportedly told an officer, "I’m hoping to tear into it tonight." However, according to the complaint, he later admitted to drinking alone at his house from midnight to 2:30 a.m. Nechville stated he didn’t feel the effects of alcohol, but looking back, "he should not have drove," the complaint reads. 

A blood sample was taken from Nechville at the hospital, and the results are pending, though court documents say he "blew above the legal limit on a portable breath test." 

Nechville made his first appearance in court on Tuesday afternoon. He remains in custody at Dakota County Jail.