By Sam Wilmes

newsroom@austindailyherald.com

ALBERT LEA — A jury trial has been scheduled for an Austin man charged in connection with a fatal crash last month east of Hollandale.

Nathan Paul Brooks, 26, faces charges of criminal vehicular homicide and gross misdemeanor driving after cancellation in the April 16 crash that killed Alex Dylan Tapp, 30, of Austin.

Brooks is slated to appear for a settlement conference July 13, with a jury trial on Oct. 11, if the case is not resolved by then.

The trial date was set Thursday in Freeborn County District Court in Brooks’ first appearance on the charges with a lawyer. He is being represented by public defender Michael Francis Ryan.

Court documents allege Brooks had been drinking alcohol at a bonfire with about eight other people and had reportedly been driving in doughnuts in the nearby pasture where Tapp was struck and killed.

A witness identified Brooks as having driven the Suburban that killed Tapp, noting Brooks had been “messing around” with it, according to the court file.

When Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived that night, they reportedly found Tapp lying approximately 40 feet from the bonfire area. He had reportedly been struck by a 2000 Chevy Suburban and was pronounced dead at the scene with severe head, facial and chest injuries.

Efforts to reach Brooks that night on his cellphone were unsuccessful, and he turned himself in on the charges the next afternoon.

In an interview with authorities, Brooks reportedly denied trying to evade law enforcement and that he had been driving carelessly. He reportedly said that after he had parked his Suburban near the fire, he noticed Tapp was not around, so he ran to the area where he had run over something and found Tapp on the ground with substantial injuries. He reportedly alerted others, and they called 911 and began CPR. He stated when the first responders arrived, he showed some in, and at one point was on the phone with 911 when the others conducted CPR.

Brooks reportedly admitted to not making contact with law enforcement to give a statement before he left the bonfire area and said he did not hear deputies in the house or he would have talked to them.

He later claimed his phone had died and that he had not shut it off.

Brooks reportedly did not have a valid driver’s license at the time of the crash and was classified as “inimical to public safety” after having multiple convictions for driving with a canceled license and drunken driving in Mower County.

If convicted of criminal vehicular homicide, Brooks faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. If convicted of gross misdemeanor driving after cancellation, he faces a maximum sentence of one year imprisonment and a $3,000 fine.