Twin Cities Metro Sees 4 Fatal Crashes In One Day

TWIN CITIES, MN — Four fatal crashes occurred across the Twin Cities metro Thursday. Among the dead are a pregnant woman and her unborn child.

Two of the crashes happened within minutes of each other.

At 12:21 p.m. Thursday in Rosemount:

Police say the driver of a semi was heading eastbound on Highway 55 and stopped to turn left onto Doyle Path.

A Suburu and a Dodge Ram were both stopped behind the semi, waiting for it to turn when they were all struck from behind by a dump truck, authorities said.

The dump truck first struck the Dodge Ram, pushing it into the ditch, then rear-ended the Suburu, according to police.

The force caused the Suburu to crash into the semi. All three vehicles came to rest in the north ditch, with the Suburu to be wedged in between the semi and the dump truck.

Both people in the Suburu died. They were identified as South Saint Paul residents William Louis Craig, 47, and Colette Larae Craig, 48.

At 12: 26 p.m. Thursday in St. Paul:

A Chevy Malibu heading northbound Highway 52 in the left lane attempted merging into the right hand lane near Plato Boulevard. It struck a Saturn. The Saturn then rear-ended a Honda Civic, causing the Civic to then hit a Ford Escape. The Honda Civic came to rest blocking the left lane, the Chevy Malibu and Saturn came to rest in the right lane, and the Ford Escape moved to the right hand shoulder after being rear-ended.

The crash killed Anthony Keli Kawino, 33, of Burnsville. He was a passenger in the Saturn. Kawino was not wearing a seat belt in the crash, police said.

A head-on crash in Saint Paul's Battlecreek neighborhood on Thursday, Oct. 17 has left a woman dead and three other people critically injured.
People began calling 911 at about 6:25 p.m. to alert dispatchers to the crash, which occurred where Lower Afton Road meets Morningside Circle. Officers rushed to the scene and found several good Samaritans attempting to help the injured.

Just before 6:30 p.m. in St. Paul Thursday:

People began calling 911 at about 6:25 p.m. to alert dispatchers to the crash, which occurred where Lower Afton Road meets Morningside Circle. Officers rushed to the scene and found several good Samaritans attempting to help the injured.

An 18-year-old woman who was ejected from one of the vehicles died at the scene, according to a news release.

Preliminary information indicates that a white Pontiac G6 carrying six people turned west onto Lower Afton Road from Morningside Circle and crashed head-on with a red Pontiac G6 carrying two people that was traveling east in the eastbound lane.

A man and woman in the eastbound vehicle suffered non-life threatening injuries.

Investigators are working to determine who was driving the white vehicle, which is believed to have turned west onto Lower Afton Road, and whether drugs or alcohol contributed to the crash.

At approximately 10:50 p.m. Thursday in Minneapolis:

Minneapolis police received multiple 911 reports of a "catastrophic" motor vehicle crash on the 1300 block of Newton Avenue North.

At the scene, police found several vehicles smashed into each other, with one vehicle having rolled over. Officers found several bystanders that were providing comfort to two individuals that were trapped in a minivan that had rolled over.

Other officers took two individuals from the suspect vehicle into custody.

Investigators say an SUV was traveling southbound against the northbound one-way on Newton Avenue. The suspect vehicle struck a parked vehicle on the 1400 block of Newton Avenue North and continued the wrong direction on the one-way, police said.

The vehicle then entered the 1300 block at an "exceptionally high rate of speed," striking a minivan and several other vehicles, according to authorities.

Minneapolis police and fire crews worked for nearly an hour attempting to extricate a woman in her 30s from the minivan.

The woman died before they could remove her. She was eight months pregnant and the unborn child also died, according to a news release.

The driver of the minivan and the two occupants from the suspect vehicle have been hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. Police believe narcotics use and speed may be contributing factors to this crash.