Washington County deputy suspected of drinking alcohol before crash

According to the Minnesota State Patrol, alcohol is believed to have played a role in a traffic accident caused by an off-duty Washington County sheriff's deputy in Afton Sunday morning.

Campbell Johnston Blair, 58, of Hastings, was driving a 2024 Subaru Crosstrek SUV north on Minnesota 95 (St. Croix Trail) shortly after 10:30 a.m. when he crossed the center line at Scenic Lane and hit it head-on a 2022 Ford Expedition SUV collided, the State Patrol said in an incident report.

Blair and the Ford's occupants – a 38-year-old Lake Elmo man and a 36-year-old Woodbury woman as a passenger – were all transported to Regions Hospital in St. Paul with injuries that were not considered life-threatening.

According to the incident report, Blair is suspected of consuming alcohol before driving. As of Wednesday, no charges had been filed against him.

Washington County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Laura Perkins said Blair was off-duty at the time of the crash.

“The Minnesota State Patrol is currently investigating the incident and we will take all appropriate actions in accordance with our policies and procedures until the investigation reaches a conclusion,” Perkins said.

In the mid-1980s, Blair was a standout Junior A defenseman in the British Columbia Hockey League and later coached at the University of Maine and the University of Alaska-Anchorage, the sheriff's office said in a 2022 Facebook post . Blair holds several BCHL records, including most goals by a defenseman in a season (38), and in 2022 the league renamed its annual top blue-liner award after him.

Blair has been a deputy in the sheriff's office since 2020 and is assigned to the court security unit, the Facebook post said.