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Crime, Law and Justice
The Associated Press

Driver charged in death of Blaine teen who was struck and killed

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Prosecutors say a driver was impaired by a mixture of marijuana, alcohol and prescription drugs when he struck and killed a teenager riding his bike in Blaine.

Daniel Rodman, 28, is charged in Anoka County with criminal vehicular homicide in the death of 16-year-old Tony Janisch last Friday.

The Blaine High School sophomore was with one of his brothers and a friend when he was struck and died at the scene.

A criminal complaint says witnesses told investigators the teens were off to the side of the street and that Rodman had the opportunity to see them and avoid a collision.

Rodman is jailed on $150,000 bail. A public defender will be appointed for him. The Anoka County chief public defender did not immediately return a phone call about that appointment.

Nodiidtr, marijuana and alcohol is suspected of impairing a motorist who fatally struck a teenager on a bicycle on a Blaine residential street, according to charges filed Monday.

Daniel A. Rodman, of Ramsey, was charged in Anoka County District Court with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the death of Blaine High School 10th-grader Tony Janisch early Friday evening as he rode with one of his brothers and a friend on NE. 129th Avenue near Lincoln Street. Janisch died at the scene.

Rodman remains jailed in lieu of $150,000 bail and has a court date scheduled for April 20. A message was left with his attorney seeking a response to the allegations.

According to the criminal complaint:

Witnesses said the teens were on bikes and skateboards heading east on 129th when Rodman's westbound car struck Janisch head-on.

The three were sufficiently off to the side to avoid impeding traffic, the witnesses said, leaving Rodman "a full opportunity to see them and avoid a collision," the charges read.

Rodman stopped and told police that he had finished work and had a beer at a friend's home nearby before he resumed driving.

He also told police that he was taking a number of prescription medications. Three officers detected an odor of marijuana coming from Rodman, but he denied having used any in the time leading up to the crash.

In addition, a preliminary breath test measured his blood alcohol content at 0.11 percent. The legal limit in Minnesota is 0.08 percent.

A drug recognition expert called in to examine Rodman found him to be impaired based on his poor balance, tremors in his eyelids, high blood pressure, rapid pulse and large pupils.

The expert concluded that Rodman "was unable to safely operate a motor vehicle due to being under the influence of marijuana and/or drugs and alcohol," the complaint read.

Rodman's criminal history in Minnesota includes numerous convictions for driving without a valid license, according to court records. That includes three times after his license was either suspended or revoked, and three more times after it expired.

His license was valid at the time of the crash, a state Department of Public Safety official said Monday.

Rodman has also been convicted twice for driving under the influence of alcohol and for weapons violations, auto theft, domestic assault, having open alcohol in a vehicle and witness tampering.