9 October 2023
PINE CITY, Minn. — The head of a prominent Twin Cities personal injury law firm was intoxicated and acknowledged taking sleeping pills before injuring a construction worker in a hit-and-run crash Friday, authorities said.
James Patrick Carey, 64, of Edina, was arraigned Monday morning on four charges in the Interstate 35 collision near Hinckley. The president and managing partner of SiebenCarey was expected to be released from custody a short time later, having spent the weekend in the Pine County Jail.
Carey, according to a criminal complaint, claimed he was not aware he hit the worker, though he acknowledged leaving the scene, and authorities said he showed signs of impairment.
James Patrick Carey
The complaint says the worker, Joseph Gregory Flanagan, 27, of Duluth, was wearing a high-visibility vest and had just finished removing cones from one of the northbound lanes. He was walking on a dirt shoulder toward his truck when he was clipped by the passing vehicle around 11:40 a.m.
A trooper who arrived on the scene found tire marks indicating a car had driven onto the right shoulder before correcting back onto the road. The complaint says pieces of a side mirror also were found on the shoulder, with a part number identifying it as belonging to a 2016 GMC Acadia.
At least two witnesses also told troopers that they saw the collision. One motorist said the vehicle had been driving onto the shoulder to pass slower traffic in the construction zone, according to the complaint.
A Carlton County sheriff’s deputy found a matching Acadia with a missing passenger side mirror near Moose Lake a short time later. Officers wrote that Carey, the driver, had an odor of alcohol and bloodshot, watery eyes.
The attorney allegedly stated he knew he had hit something in the construction zone, but believed it was an orange sign. He denied knowingly hitting a person and indicated he would have stopped.
“Carey said he had not been sleeping for a few days due to a death in the family and said he had taken sleeping pills,” the complaint states. “He admitted having three glass(es) of wine the previous day.”
Authorities wrote that he showed signs of impairment in field sobriety tests and agreed to a preliminary breath test “but was not blowing properly.” A manual capture resulted in a reading of 0.12, while a later attempt at a breath test resulted in a 0.143 blood-alcohol concentration.
The legal limit for driving in Minnesota is 0.08. A warrant was obtained for a blood draw, and a sample was sent to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for analysis.
Flanagan, meanwhile, was transported to the Sandstone hospital. Prosecutors said they were still awaiting his medical records, but he reportedly had “severe bruising and swelling on his arm where he had been hit.”
The Pine County attorney’s office charged Carey with three gross misdemeanors — two counts of criminal vehicular operation and one of failing to stop for a traffic collision resulting in bodily harm — along with a misdemeanor count of fourth-degree driving while impaired.
Judge Jason Steffen granted Carey release with conditions including no alcohol or substance use and a requirement to comply with random testing. Alternatively, he said the attorney could post a $6,000 bond without conditions.
His next court appearance was set for Dec. 28.
Carey, a Biwabik native, is a fourth-generation attorney and the son of a longtime state district judge. He has been named to the Super Lawyers list since 1998 and was named Attorney of the Year by the Minnesota Lawyer publication in 2011.
He is being represented by Thomas Sieben, a South St. Paul criminal defense attorney who is the brother of Carey’s legal partner, Jeffrey Sieben. The defense attorney did not immediately return a call Monday.
SiebenCarey is one of the oldest and largest personal injury and wrongful death practices in the state, representing clients in car crashes, medical malpractice, nursing home negligence and many other areas. The firm advertises extensively across the state and employs more than 60 people at offices in Minneapolis, Lakeville and Duluth.
“We are deeply saddened to hear of this incident,” the firm said in a statement over the weekend. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the injured worker, and we wish him a speedy recovery. We are working our way through the facts as they become available, but our primary concern remains for the well-being of all involved.”
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