8 months in jail for Blaine man who caused 120-mph crash hours after he was caught speeding

A 19-year-old Blaine man was given eight months in jail for driving 120 mph while drunk and causing a crash that severely injured a boy in the other vehicle just hours after he was ticketed for speeding near a beach parking lot.

Matthew Sukhram was sentenced in Ramsey County District Court after pleading guilty to two counts of criminal vehicular operation and fleeing police stemming from the collision of SUVs on Sept. 16 in St. Anthony.

Judge DeAnne Hilgers set aside a sentence of 1½ years in favor of the jail time and put Sukhram on probation for five years.

The other SUV’s driver, 21-year-old Soua Vang of Circle Pines, suffered bleeding on the brain and was hospitalized along with her 11-year-old brother, Av Vang.

Along with serious brain damage, Av Vang suffered “extensive internal injuries” to his liver, spleen and kidneys, the charges read. Sukhram also was treated for a broken pelvis and a fractured spine.

Court filings show that Sukhram has a habit of speeding, with six citations in a span of slightly more than two years.

A citation filed in Anoka County District Court charged Sukhram with misdemeanor reckless driving and alleged that earlier on the day of the crash he was traveling roughly 70 mph in a 30 mph zone near the Lakes Beach parking lot on NE. Lakes Parkway, “with pedestrians on the sidewalk and at times in the crosswalks.” The officer said he later clocked Sukhram at 83 mph in a 55 mph zone. He was convicted and fined more than $1,000.

About 10:45 p.m., Sukhram sped past a deputy on southbound Interstate 35W in Mounds View at what the officer estimated at 100 mph. The deputy activated his emergency lights and siren in hopes of pulling over Sukhram, who soon turned off all his lights and pushed his SUV to roughly 120 mph.

Sukhram reached New Brighton Boulevard and 29th Avenue in St. Anthony, where he slammed into the other SUV. A law enforcement officer at the scene collected a breath sample from Sukhram. It measured 0.093%, above the legal limit for driving in Minnesota.

Emergency responders removed Soua Vang from her SUV and rushed her to the hospital. Av Vang, seated in back, also was taken to the hospital, where a doctor told police that the boy’s condition “was the worst pediatric case she had seen,” the charges read.

Sukhram told law enforcement he had two vodka drinks before noon that day but nothing else afterward. He went on to admit that “I ran from the cops” after seeing the deputy’s lights and hearing his siren.