Man charged following fatal crash near Valleyfair pleads guilty to criminal vehicular homicide

The man who was arrested and charged following a crash that killed a 19-year-old near Valleyfair last summer has entered a guilty plea to one of the two counts of criminal vehicular homicide filed against him.

As previously reported by 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS, 27-year-old Jacob Lederer was initially charged with one count of criminal vehicular homicide – alcohol concentration of at least .08 within two hours of driving and one count of criminal vehicular homicide – operating with negligence under the influence of alcohol.

Court records show Lederer pleaded guilty to the charge involving alcohol concentration on Monday. A sentencing hearing is now scheduled to be held on July 7.

According to a criminal complaint, multiple witnesses estimated Lederer was driving a Mitsubishi Outlander around 85 mph east on County Road 101 when he T-boned a Volkswagen Golf at Valley Park Drive. The complaint states that witnesses saw the vehicles starting on fire and were able to cut Lederer’s seat belt and help him out of the Mitsubishi. However, the Volkswagen was already on fire and “exploding” before anyone could help the other driver.

RELATED: 2-vehicle crash near Valleyfair kills 19-year-old, alcohol use suspected

The driver of the Volkswagen — identified as 19-year-old Charlie M. Alleman, of Eden Prairie — was pronounced dead at the scene.

A witness told law enforcement that Lederer said something about alcohol as they were removing him from his vehicle, the complaint states. Officers also smelled alcohol on him and a breath test showed a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.13.