Driver involved in hit-and-run convicted | News, Sports, Jobs

A Minot man has been sentenced after pleading guilty to one count of vehicular injury, a class C felony, stemming from a hit-and-run on Jan. 3.

Kenneth Lee Weippert, 57, of Minot, entered his change of plea to guilty in North Central District Court on June 26 as part of a plea agreement that resulted in the dismissal of one count of Class A aggravated reckless driving.

According to court documents, Minot police officers arrived at the scene of the multi-vehicle crash on Central Avenue late in the evening of Jan. 3 and found the suspect vehicle unoccupied. One of the victims told investigators that two individuals had fled into an alley behind a building. Two individuals were soon found walking around downtown. They initially denied any involvement in the crash, but eventually admitted their involvement and identified themselves as Weippert and Lee Norman Weippert, 20, of Minot.

Kenneth Weippert told police he was driving the vehicle at the time of the crash and had drunk three beers at a bar in northeast Minot. Officers asked Weippert to perform a battery of field sobriety tests and recorded a preliminary breathalyzer reading of .144.

One of the victims involved in the crash was interviewed after receiving treatment at a local hospital and told investigators that Weippert was driving at a high rate of speed as he turned east onto Central Avenue, hitting two vehicles and two buildings during the turn. One of the victims had to be extricated from the vehicle due to the extensive damage, according to the affidavit.

Judge Gary Lee sentenced Weippert to serve one year and one day of a five-year sentence in the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, with credit for three days already served. Weippert was ordered to complete two years of supervised probation, undergo a chemical dependency evaluation and enroll in a 24/7 sobriety program upon his release. He was also ordered to pay $125 in fines and court costs.