LAKE ELMO, Minnesota — A man is accused of being under the influence of alcohol and a controlled substance when he crashed into a broken down carand killed a 5-year-old girl, according to charges filed Monday in Washington County.

The 47-year-old St. Paul man was charged with two counts of vehicular manslaughter – one count of negligent operation of a vehicle and the other count of operating a vehicle while under the influence of any combination of alcohol or controlled substances.

On January 20 at approximately 8:45 p.m., a car became stuck in the left lane of eastbound Highway 36 at Lake Elmo Avenue in Lake Elmo. Then another driver struck the vehicle from behind while traveling at “freeway speeds.”

Two children, a five-year-old girl and a ten-year-old boy, were in the stalled vehicle, as well as their father, who had been driving the vehicle. The girl, Morgan Rae Petersen, suffered life-threatening injuries and later died. The other two suffered less serious injuries.

According to the prosecution, a reconstruction of the accident showed that the suspect was traveling 62-63 miles per hour at the time of impact, but was only traveling 81 miles per hour five seconds before the crash. The speed limit in the area is 65 miles per hour.

Minnesota State Patrol reconstruction experts determined that the road was clear and dry at the time of the incident and that the stalled vehicle’s flashing lights were visible from about a quarter mile away, the indictment says.

The state police filed a Search warrant to take a blood sample from the driver because he smelled of alcohol. According to the arrest warrant, the man admitted to the officers that he had drunk two beers “beforehand”.

A blood test conducted about four hours after the accident showed that the suspect had a blood alcohol content of 0.056 per mille and also had the clonazepam prescribed to him in his system, the indictment states.