Man pleads not guilty to reinstated charges in 2019 Coon Rapids crash

A Blaine man has pleaded not guilty to charges that were reinstated last month for a 2019 crash in Coon Rapids.

Pedro Ricardo Flores, 57, is charged with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide, four counts of criminal vehicular operation and DWI in connection to a Nov. 30, 2019 crash that a 2-year-old later died from.

Prosecutors say Flores drove too fast for the snowy, slippery road conditions, which caused his truck to spin out, cross the median and hit a Toyota Camry head-on. A 5-year-old and 2-year-old were injured in the crash, and the 2-year-old later died.

However, last November, a judge said the state didn’t have enough evidence against Flores and dismissed the charge. The state appealed and, last month, the Minnesota Court of Appeals determined that prosecutors had enough evidence for a jury to consider and reinstated the charges against Flores.

On Monday, Flores agreed to waive an omnibus hearing. His next hearing is a pre-trial meeting on Oct. 13. A jury trial has also been tentatively scheduled to start on Nov. 7.