Rosemount Man With 17 Prior DWIs Sentenced After Highway 52 Crash

ROSEMOUNT, MN — A 60-year-old man was sentenced Tuesday to 36 months in prison in connection with causing a crash involving four vehicles in Vermillion Township in October of 2017. The collision seriously injured two other people.

Knoll pled guilty on Oct. 25, 2018 to driving while impaired. He has 17 prior convictions for driving while impaired dating back to 1979.

Knoll was also ordered to pay restitution in this case, according to a news release.

Around 7 p.m. on Oct. 20, 2017, law enforcement responded to a four-car crash in Vermillion Township near Highway 52 and 210 Street East.

Witnesses noted a truck in the northbound lanes on Highway 52 that was traveling erratically and at a high rate of speed. Traffic came to a complete stop on Highway 52. The driver of the truck, later identified as Marshall Knoll, failed to stop and rear-ended a vehicle driving at approximately 50 miles per hour, police said.

Two victims sustained substantial injuries as a result of the collision into the vehicle including multiple bone fractures, internal bleeding and cervical spine injuries. An investigation later found amphetamine and methamphetamine in Knoll’s blood.

“The Defendant in this case had 17 prior DWI convictions dating back to 1979," Dakota County Jail Attorney James Backstrom said in a statement.

"His failure to stop using chemicals while driving seriously injured two victims in this case. We are pleased to have brought Marshall Knoll to justice for causing this crash while driving impaired once again. We wish the victims well in their continuing recovery."

Backstrom praised Assistant County Attorney Cassandra Shepherd, who prosecuted the case. He also thanked the Dakota County Sheriff’s Office who responded to this crash and the Minnesota State Patrol who conducted the crash investigation.