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2 Mpls. crashes: Motorist dead, bicyclist critical

A pair of crashes occurred within 2 hours of each other in northeast Minneapolis.

By Anthony Lonetree

August 31, 2010 at 1:30PM

One person in this car died after it collided with the school bus and a utility pole. (Stan Schmidt — Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Police are investigating a pair of crashes that left a woman dead and a cyclist critically injured in northeast Minneapolis on Monday afternoon.

A man believed to be about 30 years old was in "very grim" condition Monday night after his motorized bicycle collided with a minivan driven by a drunken driver at Monroe Street and 15th Avenue NE., police said.

The driver was arrested and booked into the Hennepin County jail after the 2:48 p.m. accident, police Inspector Bryan Schafer said.

Then, about 4:30 p.m., a car carrying two people careened into a utility pole just west of the intersection of E. Hennepin and Central Avenues, killing the female passenger, believed to be 86 years old, police said.

An SUV that appeared to be traveling alongside the car veered into a school bus stopped at the intersection.

The SUV glanced off the bus as part of a possible move to avoid the car, and came to a halt west of the intersection, Schafer said.

Minneapolis schools spokesman Stan Alleyne said that no one was injured on the bus, which was carrying 11 students from Northeast Middle School.

The car's driver was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center with what were believed to be noncritical injuries, Schafer said.

The SUV's driver was not injured. After the crash, she sat at a table across the street at the Wilde Roast Cafe, and "was real shook up," said Matt Lane, 27, a cafe supervisor. "She was crying off and on."

Car ran through stoplights

Lane said that the car struck the utility pole with enough force that he heard the impact in the cafe's kitchen. Schafer said the car appeared to have climbed up the pole, and turned completely around after impact.

Police were investigating whether the car had a mechanical failure or whether someone in the car had a medical emergency. Witnesses reported seeing the car go through stoplights while eastbound on Hennepin, Schafer said.

The names of those involved in the crashes were unavailable Monday night.

The incidents occurred two days after a fatal one-car crash in northeast Minneapolis. Richard A. Jaros, 22, of Columbia Heights, died after a car he was in crashed into a tree at 515 NE. Marshall St. at 2:33 a.m. Saturday.

The medical examiner's office listed the cause of death as burns and blunt-force injuries.

Staff writer Matt McKinney contributed to this report. Anthony Lonetree • 612-673-4109

Police look over the scene where a car carrying two older people crashed into a school bus with 11 students on board and then into a utility pole near the intersection of E. Hennepin Avenue and Central Avenue S.E. (Stan Schmidt — Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

about the writer

Anthony Lonetree

Reporter

Anthony Lonetree has been covering St. Paul Public Schools and general K-12 issues for the Star Tribune since 2012-13. He began work in the paper's St. Paul bureau in 1987 and was the City Hall reporter for five years before moving to various education, public safety and suburban beats.