Dump truck driver’s fitness scrutinized after she fatally hit motorist who pulled over to use phone

A motorist who pulled over to use his cellphone was fatally hit from behind on a Lakeville road by a dump truck driver whose fitness to be behind the wheel is under police scrutiny, according to court documents.

The crash occurred shortly before 10:30 a.m. on July 18 on northbound Dodd Boulevard near W. 217th Street.

Pickup driver Gerard Paul Tuma, 68, of Lakeville, was taken by emergency medical responders to a hospital in Burnsville, where he was declared dead.

Tuma ”was pulled over onto the shoulder to use his cellphone legally, and he was stopped on the dirt shoulder” when the dump truck hit him, a search warrant affidavit filed in Dakota County District Court read.

The dump truck driver, 68-year-old Constance Burma, of Farmington, was evaluated at Regions Hospital in St. Paul.

Police filed the affidavit asking for the Dakota County District Court to allow investigators to collect all records related to Burma’s federal certification of medical fitness to drive a commercial vehicle.

Police Chief Bradley Paulson said Thursday that the case “has not been referred [to prosecutors] for charging and remains under investigation. ... We’re waiting on a few areas, to include the Minnesota State Patrol crash reconstruction report.”

In the filing, made public in court records Wednesday, police said their review of Burma’s medical records compiled during her visit to Regions after the crash showed she suffers from health difficulties.

While being examined in the Regions emergency room, the document noted, Burma’s oxygen levels were low, and “she may have lost consciousness behind the wheel.”

Burma also has lung disease that qualified her back in June 2024 for supplemental oxygen, but it went untreated despite concern of falling asleep while driving, the filing continued.

She told police at the scene that “she stretched her shoulders and felt dizzy but did not know if she fainted ... and did not remember or know when or how she struck [Tuma’s] vehicle,” the affidavit read.

Burma is a truck driver for Lakeville-based Friedges Landscaping, office assistant Jenna Rowe told the Minnesota Star Tribune on Thursday. Rowe declined to say more, citing the ongoing investigation.

The DPS said Burma’s certificate remains valid until March 2026, when it will be up for renewal.

Police said in the filing that they want to compare medical records from Burma’s most recent DOT examination with her records collected at Regions to “determine if Burma withheld any medical history that would have disqualified her from holding a commercial driver’s license and/or passing the DOT medical exam.”