Charges say Bloomington man tried to blame victim in deadly April crash, had BAC twice the legal limit

CBS News

11 hours ago

A 32-year-old man is accused of having a blood alcohol level more than twice the legal limit during a deadly crash in Bloomington, Minnesota, earlier this year, according to charges filed in Hennepin County.
The man is facing two counts each of criminal vehicular homicide and criminal vehicular operation, both while under the influence of alcohol, for the April 27 crash.
Charges say police responded to a two-vehicle crash near the intersection of 86th Street East and Old Cedar Avenue South at approximately 11:23 p.m. Upon arrival, officers saw a Ford Fusion on fire and a black Toyota Sienna that had been in a head-on collision. Police said the Ford had extensive front-end damage.
Firefighters reported finding a woman unresponsive near the rear passenger door on the driver's side of the Ford, according to the criminal complaint. Despite life-saving measures, the woman died at the hospital less than an hour later. Her cause of death was blunt force injuries sustained in the crash, an autopsy concluded.
Police spoke with the 32-year-old suspect, who allegedly told officers he was the passenger in the Ford and the woman was driving when the crash happened. He claimed to be scrolling on his phone at the time of the collision.
Charges say the driver and passenger of the Toyota were transported to the hospital for injuries. They allegedly reported to police "a fast-moving vehicle hit the curb on the right side of the road and then veered into the opposite lane of traffic, colliding with the minivan," according to court documents.
A witness also told investigators they had seen the Ford driving recklessly and rapidly accelerating shortly before the crash.
Investigators noted the driver's seatbelt on the Ford was locked out, which charges say is consistent with it having been worn during the collision. The passenger seatbelt was not locked out.
The complaint says that during the execution of a search warrant on May 2, investigators observed bruising across the suspect's chest "consistent with the pattern of a driver's side seatbelt," while the woman's body did not have bruising that suggested she wore a seatbelt during the crash.
Nearly two hours after the crash, at 1:09 a.m., a blood sample was collected from the suspect. An analysis by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension revealed he had a blood alcohol concentration of .191. The legal limit in Minnesota is .08. Additionally, he had "measured quantities of THC metabolites in his blood," charges state.
The suspect has previous convictions for impaired driving incidents, most recently in March 2024. His driving privileges were revoked following the April crash.
The suspect is in custody.