ELK RIVER, Minn. — An Avon man is charged with murder in a crash that left one person dead and another badly injured.
In a criminal complaint filed in Sherburne County, prosecutors charge 23-year-old Hunter Michael Buckentine with one count of third-degree murder and four counts of criminal vehicular operation for the crash, which took place early the morning of Aug. 19.
Court documents say a Minnesota State Patrol trooper was traveling east on U.S. Highway 10 in Becker shortly after 1 a.m. when he clocked a vehicle traveling westbound doing 132 mph. The posted speed limit was 60 miles per hour.
The trooper turned around and attempted to catch the vehicle but it pulled away. Prosecutors say a short time later the trooper came upon a debris field of glass and vehicle parts just east of 97th Street SE. He saw a woman on the shoulder of Highway 10 "frantically waving her arms" to flag down help. The trooper saw a blue Chevy Cobalt sitting severely damaged in the ditch, along with a man laying face down who showed no signs of life. That man, identified by the state patrol as 34-year-old Jordan Kramer of Clarissa, was declared dead on the scene and another woman lying nearby in the ditch reportedly told the trooper she was OK.
That victim, 38-year-old Candice Pooler of Clarissa, was flown to St. Cloud Hospital for treatment of life-threatening injuries that required surgery.
The complaint says the trooper reported that a second vehicle, an Infiniti, was spotted about 200 yards from the Chevy in the northbound ditch with flames coming from it. No one from the black Infiniti was located, but the car was co-registered to Hunter Buckentine.
Prosecutors say the driver of the Chevy that was struck told investigators she was driving down Highway 10 with two passengers when the other vehicle came up on her at a speed she estimated at 150 mph. The woman said she saw headlights behind her, didn't have time to react and was struck, spun around and believed they rolled into the ditch.
Later that morning, investigators spoke with a man who told them he had been drinking with the defendant at Beck's Pub in Becker the night of Aug. 18 and had seen him down two shots. The man said they left the bar around 1 a.m. Aug. 19 in Buckentine's Infiniti and were leaving town when the defendant made a comment about "seeing a cop pass by." The witness told investigators Buckentine then sped up to 150 mph, grabbed his phone and took a Snapchat photo of the speedometer. He described crashing into another vehicle moments later and said the two men crawled out the windows of the Infiniti as the airbags had gone off.
The witness told investigators that Buckentine began making suicidal comments "because of what he had done." The two men ran through a cornfield to get away from the scene, with the defendant allegedly taking off his clothes as he fled.
The complaint says Buckentine called Sherburne County dispatch the afternoon of Aug. 19 and was transported to a sheriff's substation to speak with the state patrol. He reportedly told them he remembered drinking one shot at the bar, but did not recall being drunk or leaving the bar, and said he also did not remember who he was with. Buckentine allegedly said the first thing he remembered was waking up on a baseball field in the community of Palmer wearing unfamiliar clothes.
Court documents say the defendant identified his Snapchat name for law enforcement. The male witness had provided law enforcement a copy of the Snapchat sent by the defendant using the same name just prior to the crash showing a speedometer with a reading of 150 miles per hour and a text stating “new record.”
Buckentine was placed under arrest.
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