Driver Arrested After Crash Split Car in Half and Killed a 3-Year Old

Cloquet, MN (KROC-AM News) - Authorities in northeastern Minnesota say a young child was killed in a traffic crash on Sunday and the driver of the vehicle is in jail.

A news release says the Cloquet Police Department responded to the single-vehicle crash around 4:30 Sunday afternoon and found that a car had struck a tree and the collision had split the vehicle in half. A three-year-old boy was pronounced dead at the scene and a five-year-old girl was transported to a hospital in Duluth. Information about her condition is not yet available. The news release also notes it appeared both children were secured in child safety seats when the crash occurred.

The driver, a 26-year-old woman from Onamia, was transported to a Duluth hospital for treatment and was later arrested and booked into the Carlton County Jail. The facility's website indicates Misty Mattinas is being held on suspicion of drunk driving, criminal vehicular homicide and operation, along with child endangerment charges.

The Minnesota State Patrol is conducting a crash reconstruction. Cloquet police say early indications are speed and impairment or potential factors in the deadly crash.

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