Spring Valley woman charged in February nonfatal Amish buggy crash
(ABC 6 News) – A Spring Valley woman faces 6 charges in connection with a February crash on County Road 1.
Brittany Edgar, 32, was officially charged with felony criminal vehicular operation–substantial bodily harm–driver who causes collision leaves scene; gross misdemeanor criminal vehicular operation–bodily harm–leave scene of collision; misdemeanor leaving scene of accident, careless driving, failure to provide proof of insurance, and false information to officer or court regarding insurance.
Search warrants ABC 6 News obtained shortly after the crash alleged that Edgar fled the scene of the Feb. 16 crash with an Amish buggy containing a family with seven children, then told law enforcement who pulled her over that she had hit a deer.
The charges come one day after Samantha Jo Petersen, the suspect in an earlier, fatal crash on the same stretch of road, made her initial appearance in Fillmore County Court.
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According to court documents filed Tuesday, March 26, at about 9:50 p.m., Fillmore County law enforcement saw the 9-person buggy pass the 3200 block of County Road 1, with flashing lights on the front and rear of the vehicle.
At 10:05, law enforcement was called to a crash involving a vehicle and that same buggy. At the time, law enforcement attested that there was an SUV parked at the crash site.
At 10:14 p.m., another responder pulled over Edgar’s white Pontiac Grand Prix, which had substantial front-end damage, as she headed away from the area of the crash.
At the scene, the SUV passengers allegedly told law enforcement they had pulled over after one of the children involved in the crash waved them over for help.
The driver of the buggy allegedly said he had pulled the buggy over to the shoulder as two cars approached from behind.
The first vehicle passed them, but the second car hit the buggy, then drove off, according to court documents.
“The next thing they knew, they were sliding down the ditch on the side of the buggy,” court documents read.
Court documents allege that there were pieces of the suspect vehicle scattered across both lanes of the road, as well as the west shoulder and ditch.
According to court documents, law enforcement found a white bumper at the crash and connected it to the officer who pulled Edgar over on his way to the scene.
Law enforcement allegedly located Edgar’s vehicle at a home on Pleasant Avenue in Spring Valley, where she said she hit a deer, then admitted she hit a buggy.
According to court documents, the Fillmore County Sheriff’s Office received data from Edgar’s cell phone, including, a Facebook instant message she sent around 1 a.m. Feb. 17, where she referenced getting into a car crash.
Edgar also provided law enforcement with a Progressive insurance card from her phone, which read that her insurance policy was valid through July 7, 2024.
According to court documents, the insurance company attested that her policy had expired July 7, 2022.
Court documents allege that one of the children transported to the hospital, age 12, suffered a “subarachnoid hemorrhage without loss of consciousness,” “laceration of the face,” and “a closed-skull fracture.”
Another, age 3, suffered a broken arm.
The 1-year-old suffered a skull fracture and swollen eye.
The two adults told law enforcement that they and four additional children had bumps, bruises, and scratches from the crash.
Edgar’s initial court appearance is scheduled for May 20.
Edgar has a long history of traffic violations, including a failure to obey an Olmsted County traffic control device in 2018, speeding and careless driving in Dodge County in 2018, 4th-degree DWI in Dodge County in 2019, and driving after license revocation in Dodge County in 2021.