A short time in jail awaits a woman who sped so excessively as she neared a Wright County intersection that she caused a two-vehicle collision that killed the other motorist.
Short time in jail for woman who sped ‘excessively,’ caused fatal collision in Wright County
The motorist who died was a Korean War veteran who once owned an antique store in Paynesville, Minn.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
December 3, 2024 at 2:00PM
Linda M. Narine, 64, of Delano, was sentenced Monday in District Court after pleading guilty to criminal vehicular operation in connection with the collision on June 1, 2023, at an intersection in Buffalo that left 88-year-old Karl Blomgren dead.
Narine made what is known as an Alford plea, meaning she maintained her innocence but acknowledged there was ample evidence to convict her.
Judge Catherine McPherson sentenced Narine to a year in jail but set aside all but two months. Narine has 60 days to turn herself in to authorities. The sentence also includes two years’ probation.
Blomgren, of Buffalo, graduated from Anoka High School in 1952, served in the Marines and was a Korean War veteran, his online obituary read. He was an engineer with Honeywell, retired and then owned and operated an antique store in Paynesville, Minn., the obituary added.
Blomgren was turning left from westbound Catlin Street, where he had a stop sign, onto southbound Hwy. 25. Narine, with no traffic light or stop sign to observe, was heading north on Hwy. 25 in an SUV and struck Blomgren’s car as he turned.
A State Patrol analysis based on video evidence from numerous exterior building cameras along Hwy. 25 determined that Narine was traveling 76 miles per hour in a 40-mph zone five seconds before the crash and still 49 mph at the point of impact, the complaint said.
Narine’s speed was so excessive as she neared the intersection that Blomgren couldn’t reasonably gauge being at risk of being hit while making the turn, according to County Attorney Brian Lutes.
So, despite only Narine being legally free to enter the intersection, “by excessively speeding, [she] forfeited the right of way,” the complaint continued.
Narine told a patrol sergeant a week later that she was unsure whether she braked at all and did not know how fast she was going or what the speed limit was at that point of the highway.
TMZ reported Tuesday afternoon that Bloomington police may have unwittingly come into possession of a recorded murder confession after arresting a former bodyguard of Simpson’s more than two years ago.
