Driver in fatal Minneapolis crash last summer sentenced to 4 years in prison

A Lakeville man learned his future on Tuesday after pleading guilty in connection with a fatal Minneapolis crash in which he was severely intoxicated.

Julio Armando Alvarado, 25, was sentenced to 48 months (four years) in prison for a crash that took the life of 42-year-old Aaron Thomas Zach. Court records show Alvarado was also given credit for 55 days already served.

Alvarado was initially charged with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide, which he pleaded guilty to on Jan. 4, according to court records.

RELATED: Charges: Driver in fatal Minneapolis crash had BAC over 3 times legal limit

The charges stem from a crash that happened on Aug. 5, 2023, around 1 a.m. on 50th Street West and Lyndale Avenue South in Minneapolis, in which a Ford F-150 driven by Alvarado hit a Mazda CX-30 and the retaining wall of a nearby home, according to a criminal complaint.

Officers from the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) responded to the scene and found the Mazda CX-30 had been caved in by the impact of the crash with the Ford F-150, the complaint stated.

The engine compartment of the Ford F-150 was compressed in half and the vehicle was significantly damaged, officials say.

Zach was pronounced dead on the scene, according to the complaint.

Witnesses on the scene told officers Alvarado looked drunk and smelled like alcohol, adding that he was driving 50 to 60 miles per hour just before the crash.

Officers field-tested Alvarado’s sobriety and he failed all three tests, according to the complaint.

A breath test at the scene showed Alvarado had a blood alcohol concentration of .268 at the time of the crash, which is more than three times over the legal limit.