911 call led to stop of SUV before crash that killed 4

An hour and a half before the crash that killed four people in an SUV near Independence on Tuesday, the driver of the vehicle who caused the collision was seen driving erratically, the Meeker County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday.

A deputy stopped the Chevy Suburban in Litchfield at 7:37 a.m. after a motorist called 911 to report that it was weaving, speeding, driving on the shoulder and passing as many as four cars at a time, said County Sheriff Jeff Norlin. The driver, who was given a warning but no ticket because the deputy hadn't seen the reported behaviors, said he was rushing to get his grandmother to the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

Just after 9 a.m., the vehicle hit a dump truck head-on near Independence. The two adults and a 5-year-old girl in the SUV died at the scene of the crash on County Road 6 west of Game Farm Road. A 3-year-old girl died at North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale. The truck driver and passenger were unhurt.

On Wednesday, the Hennepin County medical examiner's office identified three of the dead as driver Starrett Jensen, 30, of Minneapolis, and his daughters, Starriana Jensen, 5, and Sofia Jensen, 3. The fourth victim was identified by family members as the driver's grandmother, Ruby Riley, 64.

On Wednesday, Jensen's brother Bjorn Jensen, 28, sat on the steps of the north Minneapolis house where friends and family were gathered, shaking his head as he held a photo of his nieces. "I just keep hearing their voices," he said. "'Uncle Bjorn! Uncle Bjorn!'"

The gathering included Bjorn Jensen, his mother, stepfather and cousins, most from Jamaica.

Bjorn Jensen said his brother and his children were visiting the children's mother in Appleton, Minn., and Jensen was going to take Riley to the airport, then return. Jensen's 13-year-old son wanted to stay in Appleton, but the girls wanted to come along for the ride.

"He was a real kind person," Bjorn Jensen said of his brother. "He'd give you everything he had."

Starrett Jensen's cousin, Ashalla Clarke, called him a devoted family man. "The first thing I want everyone to know is that he was a very loving and caring father," she said.

According to the West Hennepin Department of Public Safety, the SUV was heading east on County Road 6 when it crossed the center line into the westbound lane and collided with the truck.

West Hennepin Public Safety Director Ray McCoy said neither adult was wearing a seat belt and neither child was restrained by a seat belt or car seat at the time they were stopped by the deputy or at the time of the crash.

Norlin said Jensen asked the deputy for directions to Interstate 494. "He said he was in a hurry because he had to take his [grandmother] to the airport to catch a flight to Jamaica," Norlin said. "He said he might have gotten onto the shoulder while plugging in a cell phone."

Norlin said the deputy noticed a child in the car who was not in a child seat or wearing a seat belt. The deputy did not report seeing a second child in the vehicle at the time of the stop in Litchfield.

Norlin said the deputy made sure the child he saw was buckled up before allowing the driver to leave with a warning.

One oddity that the deputy did note, Norlin said, was a pair of bullet holes in the back of the SUV. The driver said the holes were in the vehicle when he bought it recently. Norlin said the SUV had a 21-day temporary sticker on it, confirming the purchase date.

McCoy said investigators noted the bullet holes after the crash and wondered whether they might be the cause of the collision. Detectives and crime lab personnel from the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office gathered evidence, but it did not appear that shots played a role in the wreck.

Hennepin County Sheriff's Capt. Brian Kasbohm said the holes did not appear to be recent. No firearms or bullets were found in the vehicle.

Norlin said that news of the crash saddened his deputy and the department.

"We had no reason to detain [Jensen]," Norlin said. "The deputy did everything properly ... but still, there was a loss of life and that stays with you."

Star Tribune staff writers Abby Simons and Bob von Sternberg contributed.

Heron Marquez Estrada • 612-673-4280