MAPLE GROVE, Minn. — A 21-year-old woman is charged with six felonies for her alleged role in a Maple Grove crash that claimed the life of another motorist.
The criminal complaint filed against April Fayth Oleary lists three counts of criminal vehicular homicide and three of criminal vehicular operation in connection with the September 12, 2021 incident.
Officers were dispatched to the 15500 block of County Road 81 at about 4:30 that morning, and arrived to find two badly damaged vehicles in the roadway. One, a Volvo S60, belonged to Oleary, who was uninjured. The other was a Jeep Grand Cherokee with a badly injured man pinned inside. First responders learned he had a crushed left leg, and had to apply a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.
A third vehicle, a Toyota Sienna, was located in the ditch after having rolled. The driver of the minivan was dead when officers arrived.
Officers on the scene say they smelled a strong odor of alcohol when speaking to Oleary, and a preliminary field test measured her blood alcohol content at .19, more than twice the legal limit. She told them she had consumed two beers at 5:30 the previous evening. A subsequent blood test at the hospital also reveal the presence of THC.
Reconstruction specialists with the Minnesota State Patrol analyzed the data modules from the vehicles and determined that Oleary was driving at 124 miles per hour when she rear ended the Grand Cherokee, which then veered into oncoming lanes and hit the Sienna, causing the minivan to hit the ditch and roll. Investigators list speed as the main cause of the fatal crash, with alcohol impairment being the secondary cause.
If found guilty April Oleary faces a possible recommended sentence of 10 years in prison for each of three criminal vehicular homicide charges, and three years in prison for each of three charges of criminal vehicular operation.
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