Two-vehicle Collision In Bloomington Kills Minneapolis Man | Bloomington

Update: The 25-year-old driver in the following two-vehicle collision, Eric Walker of Minneapolis, died on Sept. 3, according to the Bloomington Police Department.

A 40-year-old Apple Valley woman was arrested on suspicion of criminal vehicular operation two days after a collision in east Bloomington that sent four people to the hospital.

The suspect was arrested in Faribault following her release from the hospital, according to Bloomington Police Cmdr. Mike Utecht.

The collision occurred at approximately 5:20 p.m. Aug. 27 on the Old Shakopee Road overpass at Highway 77. According to witnesses, the suspect’s SUV exited from northbound Highway 77 at Old Shakopee Road. Traveling at a high rate of speed, the driver passed a vehicle using the shoulder of the exit ramp, which loops onto westbound Old Shakopee Road. The SUV then merged onto Old Shakopee Road, Utecht said.

Another witness saw the SUV strike the driver’s side of a Nissan Maxima that had exited from southbound Highway 77, spinning the vehicle onto the median. The driver of the Nissan was attempting to make a left turn to travel east on Old Shakopee Road, Utecht explained.

Police officers and firefighters responded to the incident. The driver and two passengers in the SUV were conscious, while the driver of the Nissan was unconscious, Utecht noted.

The Minnesota State Patrol assisted with reconstruction of the accident scene and Minnesota Department of Transportation cameras showed the Apple Valley woman driving recklessly and at a high rate of speed prior to the collision, according to Utecht.

All four occupants of the two vehicles were transported from the scene for medical attention. Passengers injured in the SUV included a 45-year-old Faribault woman and a 49-year-old Faribault man. The driver of the Nissan was a 25-year-old Minneapolis man, Utecht said. With probable cause to arrest the driver on suspicion of criminal vehicular operation, the woman was located in Faribault and arrested after she declined to turn herself in for booking, Utecht added.

If a 27-year-old Bloomington man was targeting a home because he knew it was unoccupied, he wasn’t expecting a home security system to interfere with his burglary.

The suspect was arrested at approximately 5:25 a.m. Aug. 26 after police officers were dispatched to the 8500 block of Aldrich Avenue. Officers at the scene encountered the suspect as he rounded a fence on the south side of the property, carrying computer monitors under each arm, Utecht said.

The man matched the description of the perpetrator, whose burglary was captured on an in-home surveillance system, Utecht noted.

The suspect broke into the home through its front door on the north side of the house, which set off an alarm that alerted a 50-year-old St. Paul man of the incident. He was responsible for the home after the death of his mother, and hadn’t emptied the house of its contents. The alarm system provided him with live video of the burglary as he spoke with a representative of the security company providing the surveillance system. Upon confirmation that the occupant did not have permission to enter the house, a report was made to the police department, Utecht explained.

After officers arrested the suspect, a check of the house found no other occupants, although a cell phone was recovered inside the house, which was verified as the suspect’s cell phone, Utecht noted.

The suspect was booked on suspicion of second-degree burglary.

Two men were arrested on suspicion of possession of a stolen vehicle, but they may not face charges, as they may have simply been the latest occupants of a vehicle that had been missing for more than two months.

The arrest of the 22-year-old Minneapolis man driving the vehicle and his 20-year-old passenger was rather routine. A patrol officer spotted the vehicle traveling south on Portland Avenue as the officer was driving north at approximately 2:20 p.m. Aug. 28. A license plate check indicated it was a stolen vehicle, so the officer turned around and followed it, Utecht said.

Upon receiving confirmation the vehicle was reported stolen, the officer initiated a traffic stop after the driver had onto the Valley View Middle School grounds, 8900 Portland Ave., and parked in a parking lot on the rear side of the building. The occupants were both compliant during the traffic stop, Utecht noted.

When questioned if they had any weapons in the vehicle, the driver noted there was a BB gun in the vehicle, which was recovered in the driver’s side door. The passenger was also found to be in possession of drug paraphernalia, according to Utecht.

The vehicle had been reported stolen June 14 in Minneapolis. The owner had given the keys to a man she knew while attending a party. When she later asked for them, she was told he had given them to another person, but didn’t remember who. The occupants of the vehicle in Bloomington had the keys to the vehicle, and claimed they were loaned the vehicle without any knowledge it was stolen, Utecht explained.

The Minneapolis investigation determined that the keys to the vehicle had been passed around multiple times, which may result in no charges being filed against the duo in connection with the theft, Utecht noted.

The driver, however, was cited for driving in violation of an instructional permit, and the passenger was cited for possession of drug paraphernalia, he added.

Follow Bloomington community editor Mike Hanks on Twitter at @suncurrent and on Facebook at suncurrentcentral.

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