Brittany Nicole Edgar, 32, of Spring Valley, Minn., is facing six charges relating to an incident that occurred on the evening of February 16, 2024.
A portion of the complaint reads:
At approximately 10:05 PM, Deputy Bryan Guber was dispatched to the area of 29893 County Road 1 for a vehicle versus horse-and-buggy accident with injuries. Upon arrival, Guber observed an SUV parked along the east shoulder and a horse and buggy in the west ditch. The buggy was on its side. Small vehicle parts were in both lanes and large parts on the west shoulder and ditch.
At approximately 10:14 PM, while en route to the scene of the crash, Deputy Brady Meyer with the Fillmore County Sheriff’s Office observed a white Pontiac Grand Prix with substantial front-end damage traveling southbound on County Road 1 near the intersection of Capelle Court and North Section Avenue. The Grand Prix had a broken passenger side headlight and was not displaying any lights to the rear. Meyer activated his emergency lights and initiated a traffic stop near the intersection of West Tracy Road and North Park Drive. Meyer made contact with the driver, later identified by her driver’s license as BRITTANY NICOLE EDGAR (DOB: 10/31/1991). Edgar told Meyer that she had hit a deer approximately two hours prior. Meyer returned to his squad vehicle and asked Guber if there was a vehicle at the scene of the crash. Meyer was advised that a vehicle was at the scene of the crash. Meyer returned to Edgar with a verbal warning for the lights. Meyer continued to make his way to the scene of the crash.
At the scene, Guber spoke with one of the passersby, Joseph. Joseph said he was driving down County Road 1 and saw reflectors laying in the road. When he drove around the bend a little more, one of his passengers, Lyla, saw some kids waving at them. Lyla said it looked like a crash with a horse so she assumed they were Amish. Lyla thought the kids looked in distress so Joseph drove up the road a bit and turned around to see if the kids needed help. Another SUV passenger, Austin, said that he spoke with the driver of the buggy who said that he couldn’t remember the color of the car that hit them, but that the car drove off.
Guber found a white bumper at the scene of the crash. Guber advised dispatch that the suspect vehicle was white in color. Meyer overheard this updated information and requested dispatch link the information from his traffic stop with Edgar to the crash call so that follow up could be conducted.
At the scene, Guber spoke with the driver of the buggy (hereinafter, “Father”) down County Road 1 and came across the bridge. Father saw two vehicles coming from behind them in his mirror. Father pulled onto the shoulder and continued southbound. The first vehicle passed them and the second vehicle hit them. They were just off the bridge past the rail. Father thought they were fine on the shoulder but next thing he knew, they were sliding down the ditch on the side of the buggy.
Spring Valley Ambulance responded and transported Father and his wife (hereinafter, “Mother”), and four of the injured children to St. Mary’s Hospital.
At approximately 10:53 PM, Sergeant Jesse Grabau with the Fillmore County Sheriff’s Office located the Grand Prix at a residence on Pleasant Avenue in Spring Valley. Meyer arrived at approximately 11:00 PM. Grabau and Meyer made contact with Edgar to ask about the damage to her vehicle. Edgar again said that she struck a deer. Several observations were pointed out to Edgar and she then admitted that she had hit a buggy on County Road 1. Grabau applied for and was granted a search warrant to tow the Grand Prix and take Edgar’s cell phone. Edgar provided law enforcement with an insurance card for her Grand Prix from Progressive Insurance.
According to the complaint filed with the Fillmore County District Court, investigators “obtained a follow-up statement from Father (of the Amish family). Father stated he had some bumps and bruises as a result of the crash. Father said that Mother sustained scratches on her face; M.D.S., age 12, sustained a concussion; R.D.S., age 11, had some bumps; B.D.S., age 9, had some bumps; J.D.S., age 7, had some bumps; D.J.S., age 4, sustained a bruise on his elbow; M.R.S., age 3, sustained a broken left arm; and W.D.S., age 1, sustained a skull fracture and swollen left eye.”
The February 16, 2024, accident occurred about one mile away from where another Amish buggy crash happened on September 28, 2023, involving twin sisters, Sara and Samantha Petersen, of Spring Valley, who are now facing charges relating to that accident in which two Amish girls died.
Stemming from the hit and run Amish buggy accident, Nicole Edgar is facing one felony, a gross misdemeanor, and four misdemeanors. She is scheduled to make her first appearance in Fillmore County District Court on Monday, May 20, 2024.
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