6 injured identified in weekend drunk driving crash – InForum

COLFAX, N.D. — People injured in a chain reaction accident Saturday evening, June 8, near Colfax have been identified.

According to the North Dakota Highway Patrol, the crash happened Saturday around 10:08 p.m., as troopers and other agencies were responding to an ambulance that caught fire.

Traffic was backed up on Interstate 29 near mile marker 35, about three miles southeast of Colfax. Donald Lawuya, a 28-year-old Fargo man, approached emergency responders and, according to the Highway Patrol, failed to observe stopped traffic.

Lawuya's 2015 BMW 335 rear-ended a 2020 Mazda CX-5, driven by Jodi Erfle. Erfle's Mazda then rear-ended a 2023 Ford F150 driven by Paul Schnaible, who rear-ended a 2022 Subaru Forester driven by Matthew Jorgenson.

Lawuya and his passenger, 22-year-old Sioux Falls resident Donya Eaya, were both injured.

Erfle, a 59-year-old West Fargo woman, was not wearing a seat belt and was also injured.

Schnaible, a 66-year-old Sioux Falls resident, was not injured. Julie Schnaible, a 64-year-old Sioux Falls woman, and Mary Severson, a 91-year-old Fargo woman, were both in the F150 and were injured.

Matthew Jorgenson, 62, and passenger Lisa Jorgenson, both of Fargo, were not injured. Susan Helms, a 55-year-old Fargo woman, was also a passenger in the Subaru and was injured.

In total, six of the nine motorists involved in the accident were injured. Erfle's injuries were considered serious and life-threatening, the Highway Patrol said, while the other injuries were not considered life-threatening.

Lawuya was arrested at Sanford Hospital on charges of driving under the influence, refusing to drive while intoxicated and driving under suspension.

The ambulance driver, David Dulitz, 71, a Webster, South Dakota, man, another emergency medical technician and an unidentified patient safely escaped the fire, the patrol said Sunday road.

The North Dakota Highway Patrol continues to investigate the crash.

Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under the byline “staff.” Often, the byline “personnel” is used when rewriting basic informational documents that come from official sources, such as a city press release regarding a road closure, and that require little or no reporting. Sometimes this byline is used when a news story includes many authors or when the news story is formed by aggregating previously reported information from various sources. If outside sources are used, this is noted in the story.