Ramsey County prosecutors filed felony charges against a St. Paul man Friday after he was allegedly involved in a fatal accident at Arlington Avenue and Hazelwood Street early Friday morning. Police claim that the 21-year-old ran a red light at 30 miles per hour over the speed limit before crashing into a parked car. The young man reportedly had three passengers in his Honda Civic when the accident occurred, according to police.
Two passengers who had been riding in the back seat of the Civic suffered fatal injuries in the crash. A third passenger suffered non-life-threatening injuries, according to police. The driver is accused of two counts of criminal vehicular homicide.
Generally, CVH charges can arise based upon allegations that a driver was impaired by alcohol or other substances at the time of an accident causing fatal injuries. The law also allows authorities to prosecute CVH charges based upon gross negligence in driving that causes a fatal wreck.
In the recent felony CVH charges in St. Paul, authorities say that police obtained a blood sample after the crash. Toxicology tests on that blood sample were not complete before the time that authorities brought the felony charges against the alleged driver. The blood sample reportedly will be processed through the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
Ramsey County officials claim that the 21-year-old accused of the felony alcohol-related charges admitted to drinking before driving while en route to Regions Hospital after the 2:00 a.m. crash Friday morning. Authorities claim that the young man said that he drank five beers at a saloon in St. Paul before the accident.
Source: Minnesota Public Radio, “Man charged in accident killing 2 passengers,” Nancy Lebens, Feb. 15, 2013
