19-year-old sentenced to 8 months in jail for crash that severely injured siblings

A 19-year-old was sentenced this week in connection with a crash that left a pair of siblings severely injured.

Matthew Sukhram was convicted of two counts of criminal vehicular operation, while he was initially charged with four counts, as well as one count of fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle.

For the first charge he was convicted of, he was ordered to serve around eight months (240 days) in prison. According to court records, this will be served on weekends. He was also sentenced to spend 18 months in prison, which will be stayed for the duration of his five-year probation.

This sentence will be served at the same time as his sentence for the second count he was convicted on. This sentence includes a stayed prison sentence and 240 days in jail.

Sukhram entered a Norgaard plea to the two counts of criminal vehicular operation in February.

As previously reported, the crash followed a drunken chase with a Ramsey County deputy on I-35W on Sept. 16.

The crash occurred on 29th Avenue and New Brighton Boulevard in St. Anthony. Sukhram smelled of alcohol and had a blood-alcohol concentration of .093, court documents state.

The 21-year-old driver of the vehicle and her juvenile brother were severely injured in the crash. A pediatric doctor told police that the boy was the worst pediatric case she’d ever seen.

The boy was diagnosed with two brain bleeds, brain hematomas and extensive internal injuries to his liver, spleen and kidneys. He also later had surgery to remove part of his stomach.

Sukhram told investigators he had been pulled over earlier that morning for reckless driving over 102 mph and was “pissed off about it.”

Court documents state that Sukhram never asked about the condition of the people in the car he hit and was only concerned about how much his bail would be.