FERGUS FALLS, Minn. (KFGO) – A Barrett, Minnesota man is sentenced to 19 years in prison for a deadly chase that ended up killing two people in Fergus Falls.
As part of a plea agreement, Cody Freitag pleaded guilty to two counts of fleeing a police officer: resulting in death. Two counts of criminal vehicular homicide were dismissed. A mini-van driven by Freitag struck a vehicle killing 72-year-old Steven Christianson and his 71-year-old wife, Diane, in October 2020. Lab results showed Freitag had drugs in his system.
A former Otter Tail County deputy involved in the pursuit was later found to be under the influence of fentanyl at the time of the crash. In a plea deal, Kelly Backman pleaded guilty to a misconduct charge while a DWI charge was dropped.
