Man faces criminal vehicular homicide charges for fatal stolen car crash in Bloomington
A Minnesota Department of Transportation camera shows police at the scene of a crash on the on-ramp to I-494 on Nov. 8, 2022. (MnDOT)
A man accused of crashing a stolen car after fleeing police is facing criminal vehicular homicide charges for the death of a passenger, according to court documents.
A criminal complaint names Abdeljabar Sharif, 25, of Eden Prairie, as a suspect in a Bloomington car crash that resulted in the death of another person in the car. Sharif also faces charges of fleeing a peace officer, drug possession and receiving stolen property.
RELATED: 1 dead, 2 hospitalized after stolen car crash in Bloomington
Bloomington police say they were alerted to a car stolen out of Minneapolis at the Mall of America by an automated license plate reader (ALPR) on Tuesday, Nov. 8.
The stolen car, a 2013 gray Honda Accord, was then located by police, who attempted a traffic stop in the mall’s west garage. The Accord then fled, and Bloomington police say they did not pursue it as “it was on MOA’s property” according to the complaint.
The Accord then crashed into a concrete pillar near the entrance ramp to eastbound I-494 from Lindau Lane.
Officers then arrived at the crash scene and found a total of three occupants inside the Accord, one of which was suffering from life-threatening injuries sustained in the crash. Police say that person died at the scene of the crash despite efforts from officers to save them.
Sharif was arrested and taken to the hospital for his injuries. The other surviving passenger was also hospitalized.
The criminal complaint states that once at the hospital, police found a flashlight under Sharif’s clothes that contained 92 suspected fentanyl pills that weighed about 10 grams.
Police also obtained a search warrant for Sharif’s blood.
Court documents say that Sharif was identified on surveillance cameras as the driver of the Accord based on the clothes he was wearing.
The surviving passenger reportedly told police that the crash victim told Sharif to “keep driving” when police tried to stop the Accord because the victim knew the car was stolen.
The complaint, which was filed on Nov. 10, stated that Sharif was still at the hospital. The complaint continues to say the state is requesting a higher bail due to two pending felonies in Hennepin County and seven other felony convictions across Minnesota since 2018.