posted
Another road rage occurs in Eagan - I almost thought stoner Joe was involved until I remembered he is in jail.
1 dead, 2 injured in road rage crash in Eagan J. Pinkley Star Tribune
Published Jul 10, 2002 One person was killed and two critically injured early this morning in what authorities are calling a road rage-related crash.
Dead is Jennifer Mulhollam, 17, of New Richmond, Wis. Listed in critical condition at Regions Hospital is Heather Mary Potvin, 18, also of New Richmond. Abel D. LeBaron, Jr., 20, of Burnsville was also in critical condition, and scheduled to have surgery later today. All three were occupants of a Volkswagen Jetta involved in the crash.
Accident scene around 5:30 a.m. (MnDOT photo)
Star Tribune State Patrol Capt. Jay Swanson said the incident began around 12:30 a.m., near Yankee Doodle and Pilot Knob Rds. in Eagan. The drivers of a Ford F-350 pickup truck and the Jetta confronted each other with hand gestures and flashed their high-beam headlights.
The vehicles then entered southbound Interstate Hwy. 35E at the Pilot Knob Rd. ramp. There was a minor collision near Diffley Rd., which sent the pickup across the median and the northbound freeway. The automobile came to rest came to rest in the far left southbound lane, perpendicular to traffic. Police don't know whether the car rolled over, Swanson said.
The three occupants of the Jetta started to crawl out of the car, when an Oldsmobile Ciera struck the Jetta, he said. Police believe that was when the death and the injuries occurred.
After the Ciera struck the Jetta, another car -- a Pontiac -- stopped at the scene. The driver of the Pontiac got out and began to help people from the car. A Mazda RX-6 then hit one of the cars stopped on the road and also the Pontiac.
Police have interviewed the driver of the truck and other witnesses. Blood and urine samples have been taken and sent for analysis, but it will take about three weeks to complete testing for drugs or alcohol, Swanson said.
The State Patrol is appealing for help from people who may have been in the area around the time of the accident. Anyone who may have information is asked to call the patrol at 651-779-5970.
Charges in the case could range from criminal vehicular homicide to manslaughter. The County attorney's office will determine whether to press charges after the investigation is completed, Swanson said.
Swanson offered three suggestions for drivers encountering a potential road rage situation:
* If a driver is harassing you, try to ignore it
* If the harassment happens on the freeway, try to take the next exit and wait before getting back on.
* If you are followed off the freeway, go to a business that's open and call 911.
-- Brad Stokman contributed to this
Posts: 5484 | From: St. Paul, Mn | Registered: Apr 2002
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posted
Ahhhh The article i read earlier said the Truck rear ended the Jetta and caused it to flip over. Then everyone hog piled together.The guy in the truck must be in jail or something because I dont see his name mentioned...
-------------------- Gisel, I was looking at the picture page and I do have to admit, you look pretty good for a gaming female. Having said that, don't expect any sympathy when we meet on the battlefield. I am a fighter first, lover second. Posts: 2220 | From: Prescott, WI, USA | Registered: Apr 2001
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I saw the scene last night on my way home from the bar. I only saw 3 cars but the truck crossed the median, and the cutlass was probally driveable. I did see a ass load of strobes and a white sheet. I am guessing the Meat wagon was on it's way. My guess is that there were a few drunk involved in this. Besides it's still a young stupid chick.
Posts: 740 | From: Tranyland Pending | Registered: Oct 2000
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No felony charges filed in Eagan road rage crash Margaret Zack Star Tribune Published 04/15/2003
Inappropriate driving led to an avoidable accident that killed two people and seriously injured a third on Interstate Hwy. 35E in July, Dakota County Attorney Jim Backstrom said Monday.
But, he said, no felony criminal vehicular homicide charges will be filed in the accident, which involved five vehicles. The case will be referred to the Eagan city attorney to determine whether misdemeanor careless or reckless driving charges will be brought against any of the drivers.
Backstrom noted that alcohol and drugs were not factors in the crash. Without that, felony charges would have required the state to prove someone drove in a grossly negligent manner. That proof didn't exist, Backstrom said.
Driver Heather Potvin, 18, and her passenger Jennifer Mulhollam, 17, both of New Richmond, Wis., died of injuries suffered in the accident.
On Monday, Backstrom released this account of the crash, which is based on an accident reconstruction and interviews by the State Patrol:
Just after midnight July 10, a car driven by Potvin was stopped at the stoplight at I-35E and Pilot Knob Road to turn south onto the freeway. A pickup truck driven by Jon Wilkins, 48, of Burnsville, was behind the car.
The people in the car mistakenly thought the pickup had its high-beam headlights on, and they shouted and made obscene gestures. Wilkins flashed the high beams to show them that his high beams weren't on.
Potvin's car entered the right southbound lane on the freeway, and Wilkins moved into the center lane. When the pickup passed the car, Potvin pulled the car behind the truck, turned on its high beams and began tailgating.
Wilkins told authorities he tapped his brakes to get the car's driver to back off his bumper. The car swerved to the left, then overcorrected to the right and hit the pickup on its left side in front of the rear tire.
Both drivers lost control.
The pickup went through the median, across three northbound lanes of traffic and stopped on the outside northbound shoulder.
The car spun, rolled 2 1/2 times and landed on its roof in the left traffic lane near Diffley Road.
As Potvin and her two passengers tried to get out, a southbound car broadsided their car on the passenger side, pushing it across the freeway onto the outside shoulder.
Another vehicle that stopped on the shoulder to help was hit by yet another vehicle, which also struck the car which earlier had hit the car Potvin was driving.
Mulhollam died at the scene, and Potvin died two days later. Abel LeBaron, 20, of Burnsville, was also in Potvin's car and was seriously injured. At least one of the other drivers was hospitalized, but no one else was seriously hurt.
Backstrom declined to refer to the incident as road rage as some officials had after the crash, but he said actions could have been taken to avoid a confrontation.
"It shows the importance of having respect for other drivers and not letting your frustrations get the best of you in these situations," he said. "This was a terrible tragedy that could have been avoided."
Joel Fisher, an attorney for pickup driver Wilkins, said: "He didn't participate in aggressive driving. He wasn't angry."
Fisher said that he hasn't seen the accident reconstruction, but that the events before the crash didn't necessarily lead to the accident.
"He [Wilkins] simply doesn't know other than that they bumped his car," Fisher said.
-------------------- "Rarely has it been so clear how much we, the ordinary people of this country, are better than our rulers. I hope that lesson is not lost on anyone, of any political persuasion." Posts: 520 | From: Shakopee, MN USA | Registered: May 2002
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So I don't understand. Who the hell were they gonna charge with a crime when the people who apparently started the whole incident are dead??????
Posts: 2469 | From: Anchorage, AK | Registered: Oct 2001
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posted
The original idea what that the guy in the F150 had road rage and ran the Jetta off the road. The case was being made that the F150 slammed on his breaks making the Jetta lose control.
Being truck owners I think we all can understand how stupid cars are in thinking our brights are always on. I know I have had several cars do similar things after I have been behind them.
Posts: 5484 | From: St. Paul, Mn | Registered: Apr 2002
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