A December head-on collision in St. Paul that killed an 18-year-old Wisconsin man was caused by a motorist traveling the wrong way on Shepard Road while nearly three times the legal limit to drive, according to charges.

Sanjit Singh, 54, of St. Paul, is charged in Ramsey County District Court with criminal vehicular homicide and criminal vehicular operation in connection with the Dec. 29 crash that killed Dylan James Severson of Fountain City, Wis. Singh was charged by warrant and had yet to be booked into jail on the charge as of Tuesday.

A woman with Severson was hospitalized with “moderate injuries.” Singh also sustained serious injuries in the crash, police said.

The criminal complaint, filed Friday, gives the following account:

St. Paul police officers were called to the crash in the area of Shepard Road and Randolph Avenue around 2:35 a.m. Dec. 29. A 2007 Chevrolet Impala and a 1998 GMC Sierra pickup truck were both facing east on Shepard Road with badly damaged front ends.

Severson was in the driver’s seat of the Impala, not moving or breathing. The woman was conscious and in the front passenger seat and had to be extricated from the car. She had injuries to her hands, face, neck and legs and complained of back and leg pain. She said she and Severson were headed to River Falls, Wis., and that they both smoked marijuana before the crash, the complaint says.

Singh was lying across the passenger seat of the pickup truck with his legs near the driver’s floor area. He was unconscious, but had shallow breaths. St. Paul Fire Department medics rushed him and the woman to Regions Hospital.

Medics pronounced Severson dead at the scene at 3:10 a.m.

A sample of Singh’s blood was taken by a Regions nurse at 6:06 a.m.

Singh’s son spoke to police at the crash scene. He said Singh had told him earlier he was going out for the night and that he woke up in the middle of the night and was worried because Singh had not returned home. He went to the crash scene after checking Singh’s location on his cellphone.

The registered owner of the Impala told police he loaned the car to Severson, who was his best friend.

An officer noted in a limited crash reconstruction report the weather was foggy with temperatures near freezing, but the roadway was dry and clear of snow and ice. Streetlights in the area of the crash were not working.

Front-end damage to both vehicles was consistent with an “off-set” head-on crash, the complaint says.

The reconstruction report concluded Severson was traveling northeast in the northeast-bound lanes of Shepard Road, while Singh was headed southwest in the northeast lanes.

Singh’s blood sample was analyzed by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and showed his blood-alcohol concentration was 0.23, the complaint says. The legal limit to drive in Minnesota is 0.08 BAC.

Minnesota court records show Singh has no convictions or driving-related offenses.

According to his online obituary, Severson grew up in Fountain City, a small Mississippi River town just north of Winona, Minn., and graduated from Cochrane-Fountain City High School. He made friends “everywhere he went thanks, in part, to his infectious smile and big heart,” the obituary says. “He had so many plans and dreams that he didn’t get a chance to make come true.”

Survivors include his parents and three sisters.