Plea Deal For Elderly Lake City Man Accused of Deadly Hit and Run

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Wabasha, MN (KROC-AM News) - A sentencing hearing has been scheduled in late November for an elderly Lake City man who was charged with the hit-and-run death of a teenage skateboarder last year.

Court records indicate 85-year-old Bernard Quist has entered into a plea deal and will admit to a criminal vehicular homicide charge. In exchange, Wabasha County prosecutors have agreed to dismiss two additional counts of criminal vehicular homicide and a hit and run charge for striking the victim with his vehicle.

The criminal complaint in the case says a preliminary breath test put Quist's blood-alcohol concentration at .96 the night of 16-year-old Adriana Simon's death. She was found lying next to her skateboard on a road adjacent to Isaak Walton Park in Wabasha on August 31, 2021. She was transported to a local hospital she was pronounced dead from injuries.

A witness told police an elderly man and woman were also at the scene but left before officers arrived. One witness told an investigator the elderly man was heard saying "she is gone," and the woman stated, "she just darted out."

The court record indicates Quist and the woman later contacted Wabasha Police and return to the scene. The police report on the deadly incident says Quist admitted he was driving the vehicle that struck the teenager and that he had previously consumed several alcoholic beverages.

The plea agreement does not include a recommended sentence. Both sides have agreed to argue before a judge at Quist's sentencing hearing on November 23.