MINNEAPOLIS — Prosecutors have charged a man accused of driving the wrong way on PCP and causing a "'catastrophic" crash in north Minneapolis Thursday night, according to a criminal complaint.
On Friday, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman charged 36-year-old Mark Franklin Jr. with criminal vehicular homicide while driving on a controlled substance, criminal vehicular operation causing the death of an unborn child while on a controlled substance, criminal vehicular operation causing substantial bodily harm while on a controlled substance and criminal vehicular operation causing bodily harm on a controlled substance.
Franklin admitted to taking PCP before driving his Lincoln Navigator Thursday night, according to the criminal complaint.
The complaint states that Franklin said he had picked up another person in Champlin and that they drove to north Minneapolis to buy PCP.
Police got a call just before 11:00 p.m. Thursday for what they describe as a 'catastrophic motor vehicle crash' in the 1300 block of Newton Avenue North.
Investigators say a Lincoln Navigator was going the wrong way down Newton Avenue, a one-way street, when it struck a parked vehicle in the 1400 block. The Navigator then continued the wrong way down Newton, at what police describe as a high rate of speed, hitting several parked cars and a minivan.
Crews worked for more than an hour to try and save an 8-months pregnant woman in her 30s, who was trapped in the minivan. Both she and her unborn baby died before she was rescued.
A friend of the woman's family told KARE 11 that the woman killed was pregnant with her 11th child. The friend also said the man in the minivan was still recovering in the hospital Saturday.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office identified the woman as Ubah Hussein, and said she died of multiple blunt force injuries.
Police officers could not conduct field sobriety tests with Franklin because he was receiving medical attention for his injuries.
Officers collected a sample of Franklin's blood for BCA analysis, the complaint said.
Franklin's bail was set at $1,000,000.