A St. Cloud man charged in connection to a fatal wrong-way crash in Waite Park in July, entered a Norgaard plea in court Thursday.

 

The plea is entered in situations where a defendant acknowledges there is enough evidence for a jury to convict them, but is unable to recall facts due to intoxication or amnesia.

 

Twenty-eight-year-old Charlie Ray Barnett was charged with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide, according to court records.

 

Officers responded July 10 to a two-vehicle crash at Division Street and Second Avenue South.

 

Richard Tomlinson, 61,  of Grantsburg, WI and Roger Nelson, 77, of Clearwater were both killed in the crash. Barnett was driving a Malibu borrowed from woman with whom Barnett has children. The two older gentlemen were driving a classic 1970 Chevrolet El Camino.

 

Barnett was identified as the driver of a car that witnesses say was speeding before his vehicle crossed the median and struck another vehicle that was owned by Nelson and being test driven by Tomlinson.

 

Witnesses said Barnett was "acting in a strange manner" after the crash and had bloodshot eyes. 

 

Officers say they found an aerosol bottle of dusting cleaner inside of Barnett's vehicle. Officers later learned that Barnett had a history of huffing dusting cleaner to get high. Barnett was seen "huffing dusting cleaner and falling over" a week earlier. 

 

After being transported to the hospital, Barnett said he had a panic attack and did not remember the crash.

 

Surveillance video from Best Buy showed a car matching the one Barnett drove pulling into Best Buy shortly before 7:10 p.m., and a man matching Barnett's description bought two cans of dusting cleaner.