A Twin Cities man concealed his history of epileptic seizures from state authorities and kept driving despite the risk until he caused a head-on crash that killed three members of a Bloomington family, according to felony charges.
Patrick J. Hayes, 35, of Savage, was charged Tuesday in Hennepin County District Court with five counts of criminal vehicular homicide or operation stemming from the Dec. 2, 2016, crash on Interstate 494 near Hwy. 5 in Bloomington. Hayes was driving on the wrong side of the interstate.
Killed were 2-year-old Payton Bailey, his mother, Dylan Bailey, 24, and his grandmother, Dawn Chiodo, 51.
They were returning from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport after picking up Olivia Nord, of Richfield, who had just graduated from U.S. Marine boot camp in South Carolina. They were driving to a surprise party to celebrate Nord becoming a Marine, but they never made it.
Nord, 19, and Nord's mother, Jennifer Nord, 50, also of Richfield, survived their injuries. The death toll easily could have gone to four if Olivia Nord had not overcome "a life-threatening aortic injury from which most patients do not survive," the criminal complaint read, citing her medical records.
Hayes was charged by warrant, jailed Tuesday night and is being held in lieu of $150,000 bail. He has a Sept. 28 court hearing. His attorney, Jordan Deckenbach, declined Wednesday night to comment. Should Hayes make bail and leave jail, conditions include that he not drive and must take his prescribed medications.
The complaint against Hayes spells out his years of covering up his epilepsy from state licensing officials and the several traffic incidents involving him over the years.
Hayes' applications for a driver's license for the past five years in Minnesota fail to reveal a medical condition or that he takes any medication that could hinder his ability to drive, according to prosecutors.