Charges: Woman was driving 124 mph at time of fatal DWI crash in Maple Grove
This story has been updated to show Oleary has been arrested, and has also had her first court appearance.
A 21-year-old woman was charged Monday for her role in a three-vehicle crash that killed one and left two others injured last September in Maple Grove.
April Fayth Oleary, of Otsego, is charged with three counts of criminal vehicular homicide and three counts of criminal vehicular operation for driving under the influence and causing substantial bodily harm, court records show.
A warrant was issued for Oleary’s arrest on Monday, February 28, but it was cleared the following day. Oleary made her first appearance Wednesday afternoon, and a $150,000 bond was issued. Another hearing is scheduled for Friday afternoon, and Oleary has been denied a public defender.
On Sept. 12 at 4:30 a.m., Maple Grove police responded to a fatal crash in the 15500 block of County Road 81 after receiving an accident alert from a car alarm company. Officers found three vehicles involved in the crash. A Volvo S60 and Jeep Grand Cherokee were in the road and both had severe front-end damage, according to a criminal complaint.
The third car, a Toyota Sienna, had rolled into a ditch and had major front-end and driver’s side damage. The Sienna’s driver, pinned inside the car, was declared dead at the scene. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner later identified the victim as 67-year-old Phousalinh Khounpanya of Dayton.
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A 31-year-old man was pinned in the driver’s seat of the Jeep, the complaint says. His left leg was crushed with the bone sticking out and his femur suffering a compound fracture. Police applied a tourniquet as he was bleeding. His foot was stuck under a pedal and he had to be extricated by the fire department.
Oleary was in the Volvo, visibly intoxicated, and told police she rear-ended the Jeep but didn’t know that a third car was involved in the crash, the complaint states. She called 911 after seeing the Jeep’s driver “gasping for air.” Oleary was not injured.
At the scene, Oleary blew a 0.19 blood-alcohol concentration and was arrested. At 9:19 a.m., with a search warrant, Oleary had her blood drawn, which the investigators found to contain a 0.11 BAC and evidence of THC.
A Minnesota State Patrol crash reconstruction revealed that Oleary was driving westbound on County Road 81 at 124 mph seconds before rear-ending the Jeep. The speed limit is 55 mph. The Jeep then crossed into the eastbound lane and hit the Toyota, sending it rolling into a ditch. Oleary’s car struck the Jeep again as both cars came to rest, the complaint says.
Oleary was arrested in September.