A suspected drunken driver was “flying down” the road before he hit an SUV in a Twin Cities intersection and killed the other motorist.
Tony A. Benjamin, 48, of Shakopee, was charged Monday in Scott County District Court with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the crash shortly before 3 p.m. Friday in Shakopee at the intersection of County Road 18 and Preserve Trail.
Benjamin remains jailed in lieu of $75,000 bail ahead of an Oct. 6 court appearance. Court records do not list an attorney for him.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the victim as Ray Allan Crenshaw, 83, of Savage. Crenshaw was pronounced dead Friday at St. Francis Regional Medical Center.
According to the criminal complaint and police:
Benjamin was heading north on County Road 18 in a pickup truck and hit Crenshaw’s SUV broadside as he was turning off of Preserve Trail.
A driver nearby told police that she saw the pickup “come flying down” County Road 18 and hit the SUV. Another driver reported seeing the pickup pass him on the right, change lanes and merge back to the left.
“The truck did not slow down and hit the other [vehicle],” the charges read.
