Impaired Driver Arrested in Burnsville Has Prior Conviction of Vehicular Homicide

A Burnsville police officer made a traffic stop after a St. Paul woman ran a red light in the early morning hours of July 23. 

Nicolle Marie Mercedes Prechel, 35, was  later charged with third degree driving while impaired, a gross misdemeanor and misdemeanor charges related to traffic violations and limited license violations.

In the July 23 incident, Prechel was at the County Road 42 and Interstate 35W intersection when she crossed the intersection onto the I-35W ramp against a red light, according to the Dakota County complaint. 

When the police officer made the traffic stop, he noticed that she had slurred speech and could not comply with simple requests. Her preliminary breath test registered at 0.08. Further breath tests registered up to 0.15.

Prechel had a limited license due to a 2009 conviction of criminal vehicular homicide. She pleaded guilty in the 2009 case, in which her van backed into a tent and killed her cousin's infant son and injured the baby's mother. She was sentenced to 58 months in prison.

Prechel had her first court appearance on July 25. Her next court date is an omnibus hearing on August 19.

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