A busy Eden Prairie intersection was shut down for about four hours Friday after a crash in which a driver fleeing police T-boned a paratransit bus.
Around 8:40 a.m., an officer spotted a Volkswagen Passat speeding on Valley View Road. The driver accelerated even faster when the officer tried to stop the car. The officer abandoned the pursuit, but a mile later came upon the crash involving the Passat and the bus at Valley View Road and Eden Prairie Road, said Eden Prairie spokeswoman Joyce Lorenz.
The impact knocked the bus, operated by Transit Team, on its side. The bus driver and a woman in a wheelchair suffered minor injuries and were taken to a hospital, said Lt. Tiffani Nielson of the State Patrol.
The fleeing driver, identified as a 29-year-old Eden Prairie man, also was hurt and taken to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis.
A State Patrol reconstruction team determined that the man was heading west on Valley View Road and entered the intersection against the red light. The transit bus was southbound on Eden Prairie Road with a green light. The car struck the bus. Alcohol was detected in the driver's system, Nielson said.
He could be charged with felony fleeing of police in a motor vehicle, DWI and criminal vehicular operation, pending blood test results, the patrol said.
