Woman claimed dog grabbed her steering wheel, leading to fatal car crash: police

ROSEAU, Minn. (WKRC) - A woman claimed that her dog grabbed her steering wheel while driving, causing her to swerve into oncoming traffic and cause a fatal accident. According to court documents obtained by the Minnesota Star-Tribune , 43-year-old Shauna Dokken was driving on the highway at around 4 p.m. on May 29 when she drove into oncoming traffic and struck an SUV driven by 82-year-old Barbara Lee Welburg, killing her. First responders confronted Dokken at the scene of the crash, noting that she was slurring her speech despite not testing positive for alcohol. Dokken told authorities that she had taken multiple prescription medicines earlier that day, including Adderal and lorazepam (also known as Ativan), according to local outlet KSTP . Dokken was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Welburg's SUV flipped over following the crash, and she was pronounced dead at the scene. A witness told authorities that he had to swerve out of the way to avoid being hit by Dokken, and claimed that "it felt as if the driver was intentionally tracking his movements and trying to hit him." Dokken allegedly gave authorities multiple conflicting stories about what occurred in the moments leading up to the crash, including one instance where she claimed her dog distracted her and "twisted the steering wheel and caused the vehicle to spin out of control." Law&Crime reported that Dokken was convicted of DWI in 2025 and was on probation at the time of the crash. Dokken was arrested and charged with vehicular homicide.