A 54-year-old man remains jailed Sunday on suspicion of being drunk when he caused a four-vehicle pileup in Coon Rapids that left a 2-year-old boy critically hurt and two other people in the child's Lino Lakes family seriously injured, authorities said.
4-vehicle pileup in Coon Rapids leaves 2-year-old critically hurt; suspected drunken driver in jail
One driver did CPR on the boy until emergency responders arrived, according to the Anoka County Sheriff's Office.
December 1, 2019 at 6:42PM
The wreck occurred about 3:50 p.m. Saturday on Main Street west of Shenandoah Boulevard NW., according to the Anoka County Sheriff's Office.
A 29-year-old motorist from Champlin whose pickup truck got caught up in the crash, escaped injury. Mitch Heidmann then exited his car and performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the 2-year-old, who was "laid out on the road," until emergency responders arrived, according to the Sheriff's Office and emergency dispatch audio.
The driver who was arrested was identified by the jail as Pedro R. Flores, of Blaine. He is being held on suspicion of drunken driving and criminal vehicular operation.
Evidence of intoxication was sufficient for authorities to get a court to agree to seek blood from Flores to test for his degree of impairment, said Anoka County Sheriff's Lt. Andy Knotz.
His criminal history in Minnesota includes a drunken driving conviction two years ago in Sherburne County as well as being caught in northwestern Minnesota in 2012 going 104 miles per hour in a 70 mph zone.
According to the Sheriff's Office:
Flores was heading east in his Dodge pickup truck and skidded sideways into westbound traffic, where he hit a car head-on. Two more westbound vehicles were also struck, but their drivers were not hurt.
The car's four occupants were all injured and taken to hospitals. The 2-year-old boy, Guatam Pujari, was last reported to be in critical condition. Knotz said the boy's condition "was pretty grave at the time."
A 37-year-old woman, Mamanta Patil Bovi, and 5-year-old Sinchana Pujari were seriously hurt. The car's driver, Suresh Shrimant Pujari, 37, suffered minor injuries.
The fourth driver was identified as Kevin D. Cobos Diaz, 35, of Andover.
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