Speeding driver, suspected of being high, kills minibike rider in Minneapolis crash

A driver, speeding and suspected of being high on an opioid, struck a minibike and killed its rider at a north Minneapolis intersection, according to officials.

The collision occurred about 5:30 p.m. Monday at the intersection of 24th and Washington avenues N., according to a search warrant affidavit filed that night that cleared the way for police to collect blood from the car’s driver to test for drug impairment. Test results are pending.

The minibike rider died at the scene, according to the filing. A crowdfunding campaign identified him as Matt Ellingboe, 41, who was the breadwinner for his mother, girlfriend and his girlfriend’s three children.

Ellingboe was out shopping for groceries, according to the campaign.

The driver, a 32-year-old man from Richfield, fled the scene but was soon arrested, the document read. He was released from jail Wednesday without charges as the investigation continues. The Minnesota Star Tribune generally does not identify suspects before they are charged.

A preliminary blood test conducted by a police officer at the scene showed no alcohol in the driver’s system. The officer went on: “I then used my flashlight to check [his] pupils and noted they were both pinpoint,” the affidavit read. “This is common with opioid usage. I believe [he] is impaired and cannot operate a motor vehicle safely.”

The filing noted that the crash “involved speeds well in excess of the posted speed limit of 30 mph. ... The motorcyclist and the vehicle ended up almost a full block from the area of impact.”

Suspect’s driving history

Court records in Minnesota show that the criminal history of the car’s driver in Monday’s crash includes convictions for driving with a suspended license and after having his license revoked. His license was valid at the time of Monday’s crash, a state Department of Public Safety spokesman said.

The driver also was convicted in 2015 of gross-misdemeanor criminal vehicular operation and fleeing police stemming from the same incident, according to court records.

In that case, a state trooper tried to pull him over for driving with a suspended license, but he fled at speeds reaching 115 mph on Interstate 94 in Minneapolis, according to the criminal complaint. He was eventually arrested after abandoning his vehicle just west of downtown, but not before he hit four vehicles and injured one of the drivers, the complaint read.