Judge gives North Dakota drunk drivers choice between jail or attending funeral

FARGO, N.D. – Three drunken driving offenders were given a choice -- spend time in the Cass County jail, or attend the funeral of a West Fargo family that was killed by a drunken driver.

All three went to the funeral, and one offender wrote a letter to the Fargo municipal judge about it.

Allan Bakkerud says the funeral made him realize how a drunken driver could "change so many lives in a split second."

Bakkerud and the two other offenders went to the July 12 funeral for Aaron and Allison Deutscher and their 18-month-old daughter Brielle.

The Deutschers were killed when their vehicle was hit head-on by another vehicle that was driving the wrong way on Interstate 94. The Forum reports the drunken driver, Wyatt Klein of Jamestown, was also killed.