Man charged in crash that left two people injured in St. Anthony

A man has been charged in connection with a crash that left two people seriously injured on Saturday in Ramsey County.

Matthew Sukhram, 19, was charged with four counts of criminal vehicular operation and one count of fleeing a peace officer in a vehicle.

Around 10:45 p.m. Saturday, a deputy was merging onto I-35W south from Mounds View Boulevard when he saw a car on the interstate going over 100 mph. The officer turned on his lights and siren, which caused the vehicle to swerve into multiple lanes around other cars.

The lights on the driver’s vehicle went off near I-694 as it reached speeds around 120 mph. The deputy then lost sight of the car when it exited onto County Road D West.

According to court records, the speeding vehicle crashed into another car on 29th Avenue and New Brighton Boulevard (Highway 88) in St. Anthony. The deputy responded to the crash and determined that the car he had pursued on the interstate — a 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee — was one of the vehicles involved in the crash.

The Jeep was on fire in the median about 100 yards south of the crash site and the driver of the Jeep, identified as Sukhram, was lying on the ground by the vehicle. Court documents state that Sukhram had a smell of alcohol on his breath and a BAC of .093.

The other vehicle in the crash — a 2023 Honda HR-V — was on its side and the 21-year-old driver was extracted through the broken windshield. The driver was unconscious and had weak breathing, but was stabilized and brought to the hospital.

A boy, identified as the driver’s brother, was found in the back of the Honda and was taken to the hospital. According to court records, the pediatric doctor told police that the boy, born in 2012, was the worst pediatric case she had seen.

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

According to the criminal complaint, Sukhram said that he had two drinks of Tito’s vodka before noon on Saturday, but claims he stopped drinking. He also admitted that there were two sealed bottles of vodka in the Jeep.

Sukhram sustained a broken pelvis and fractured spine as a result of the crash and is currently in the hospital.

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.

As of Monday, the driver of the Honda no longer needed a ventilator to breathe, but was diagnosed with a brain bleed.

The boy’s condition is considered to be “hour-by-hour” and he was diagnosed with two brain bleeds, brain hematomas and extensive internal injuries to his liver, spleen and kidneys.

According to court records, the boy had surgery to remove part of his stomach on Monday and it is unclear if he will survive the injuries.

Sukhram has five previous speeding violations dating back to June 2021.