{"id":49399,"date":"2026-09-07T09:21:36","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T14:21:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=49399"},"modified":"2026-09-07T09:21:36","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T14:21:36","slug":"perley-area-smagala-charged-in-fatal-highway-75-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/perley-area-smagala-charged-in-fatal-highway-75-crash\/","title":{"rendered":"Perley Area: Smagala Charged in Fatal Highway 75 Crash"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Perley Area: Smagala Charged in Fatal Highway 75 Crash<\/h2>\n

NORMAN COUNTY, Minn.<\/strong> (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) \u2014 Jacob Alexander Smagala faces a felony criminal vehicular homicide charge after a fatal rollover.<\/p>\n

The crash happened early Sept. 3, 2026, on U.S. Highway 75 in Norman County.<\/p>\n

Smagala, 23, is charged in court file 54-CR-26-272.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors allege he drove negligently while under the influence of alcohol.<\/p>\n

Passenger Killed in Highway 75 Rollover<\/h2>\n

The complaint says emergency crews were dispatched around 3:43 a.m.<\/p>\n

Smagala initially reported that another vehicle struck his car before it rolled.<\/p>\n

Investigators later reported finding no debris supporting a collision with another vehicle.<\/p>\n

The passenger was missing when responders first reached the scene.<\/p>\n

Smagala and the passenger’s mother had searched for him before emergency crews arrived.<\/p>\n

The passenger was later found unresponsive in a field.<\/p>\n

The complaint says he had been ejected from the vehicle.<\/p>\n

Emergency responders performed CPR, but the passenger was pronounced dead.<\/p>\n

The Minnesota State Patrol crash report<\/a> lists the crash in Lee Township.<\/p>\n

\n \"Jacob<\/p>\n

Jacob Alexander Smagala | Northwest Regional Corrections Center booking photo<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The State Patrol says the vehicle was northbound before losing control and rolling into a ditch.<\/p>\n

No police officer names are included in this report.<\/p>\n

Alcohol Use Alleged After Crash<\/h2>\n

Investigators reported smelling alcohol while Smagala was receiving medical care.<\/p>\n

The complaint says Smagala admitted drinking alcohol in Fargo before the crash.<\/p>\n

He allegedly reported drinking four or five beers and some Four Loko.<\/p>\n

Smagala said bright lights appeared to be coming toward him, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

He allegedly said he swerved left and then overcorrected into the ditch.<\/p>\n

Investigators reported finding empty alcohol containers at the crash scene.<\/p>\n

They also reported finding no paint transfer supporting the alleged contact with another vehicle.<\/p>\n

Surveillance footage from Perley was reviewed during the investigation.<\/p>\n

The complaint says no southbound traffic appeared after Smagala’s vehicle passed through the area.<\/p>\n

Blood Test Results Were Pending<\/h2>\n

Investigators obtained a warrant to collect a blood sample from Smagala.<\/p>\n

The complaint says the sample was collected after the crash.<\/p>\n

Laboratory results were still pending when the criminal complaint was prepared.<\/p>\n

The pending test result should not be treated as a confirmed alcohol concentration.<\/p>\n

Felony Homicide Charge Filed<\/h2>\n

Prosecutors charged Smagala under Minnesota Statute 609.2112<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The count alleges criminal vehicular homicide involving negligent driving while under alcohol’s influence.<\/p>\n

A conviction can carry up to 10 years in prison.<\/p>\n

A fine of up to $20,000 is also possible.<\/p>\n

Those are maximum penalties and do not represent a sentence against Smagala.<\/p>\n

Charge Remains an Allegation<\/h2>\n

The criminal complaint contains allegations that have not been proven in court.<\/p>\n

Smagala is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.<\/p>\n

Custody information is available through the Northwest Regional Corrections Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Public court information is available through the Minnesota Judicial Branch<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I’m Adrian Cole reporting for TRF News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 TRF News. All rights reserved.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jacob Alexander Smagala faces a felony criminal vehicular homicide charge after a fatal Highway 75 rollover near Perley, court records allege<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":47005,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_bluesky_share_type":"","_mastodon_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[12],"tags":[17533,7442,18652,24501,24499,24500,1013,24589,14743,13846,9697,786],"class_list":["post-49399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-alcohol-related-crash","tag-criminal-vehicular-homicide","tag-fatal-rollover","tag-highway-75-crash","tag-jacob-alexander-smagala","tag-jacob-smagala","tag-minnesota-state-patrol","tag-minnesota-statute-609-2112","tag-norman-county-court","tag-norman-county-mn","tag-perley-mn","tag-trf-news","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49399"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49399\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49400,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49399\/revisions\/49400"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}