Southeast Minnesota Woman Admits to Hit & Run With Amish Buggy

Preston, MN (KROC-AM News) - A woman who was involved in a hit and run crash involving an Amish buggy near Spring Valley in February today entered a guilty plea to a felony charge.

According to court documents, 33-year-old Brittany Nicole Edgar was driving a car that crashed into the back of the buggy on a rural road in Fillmore County on the night of February 16. She was accused of leaving the scene after the collision sent the buggy into the ditch in a crash that injured seven children and their parents.

Get our free mobile app

The criminal complaint indicated several of the children had serious injuries. A 12-year-old child suffered a fractured skull, a 3-year-old boy sustained a broken arm, and a 1-year-old had facial fractures and other injuries. The crash report stated the parents and the other children in the buggy escaped with bumps and bruises.

The charges say investigators were able to obtain a search warrant to examine the data on the Spring Valley woman's cell phone and uncovered evidence that she was engaged in exchanging text messages around the time the crash occurred. The evidence also included a Facebook message sent by Edgar that declared she had just been involved in a car accident.

The court documents describe how she became a suspect in the hit and run. One of the Fillmore County deputies responding to the crash initiated a traffic stop after spotting her driving a vehicle with significant front and damage and a broken headlight. At the time, Edgar was allowed to leave with a warning because the deputy was under the mistaken impression that an SUV parked at the scene of the crash was the vehicle that had collided with the buggy.

Edgar was later charged with a felony count of criminal vehicular operation, a gross misdemeanor count of the same charge, and for misdemeanor charges for leaving the scene of an accident, careless driving, giving false information to an officer, and failure to provide proof of insurance.

Today, she entered a guilty plea to the felony charge of criminal vehicular operation for leaving the scene of the crash involving substantial bodily harm in exchange for the dismissal of the other charges. She is scheduled to be sentenced next month.

More Minnesota News:

• Rochester Man Accused of Burning Officer Charged with Sex Abuse
• Body of Murder Victim Discovered on Rural Minnesota Property
• Woman Dies After Being Pulled from Minnesota House Fire