Driver accused of racing past parked trooper on I-94 in St. Paul, causing fatal collision

A driver raced past a Minnesota State Patrol speed trap in St. Paul and hit the gas even harder while a trooper tried to catch up before causing a collision moments later that killed the another motorist, according to a criminal complaint filed Thursday.

Musab Ibrahim Kosar, 22, of Fridley, was charged in Ramsey County District Court with criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the crash shortly before 3 a.m. Wednesday that killed 31-year-old Benjamin Michael Villano, of St. Paul.

Kosar was injured in the collision atop the ramp from I-94 to Dale Street and is recuperating in Regions Hospital, the complaint read. His passenger, 19-year-old Suban Geer, of St. Paul, also survived her injuries, according to the patrol.

According to the complaint:

A state trooper was parked on the Pascal Street ramp and aiming his speed radar at eastbound I-94 traffic, when he detected a Tesla, later determined to being driven by Kosar, going 84 miles per hour in a 55 mph zone.

The trooper “drove after the Tesla, which had increased its speed to over 100 mph,” the complaint read. The trooper kept his emergency lights and siren off “as he tried to catch up to the Tesla.”

As Kosar neared the Dale Street exit, he turned off the Tesla’s lights. He drove to the top of the ramp and out of the trooper’s sight. The trooper arrived at the end of the exit and saw that Kosar had crashed into Villano’s Toyota SUV. Emergency medical responders declared Villano dead at the scene.

Geer, after being told that the other driver had died, “became very emotional [and] said she had asked Kosar to stop speeding in the past,” the complaint continued, “but she did not believe he was speeding that evening.”

She added the two of them had just broken up “and were discussing their relationship after going to get food.”

Court records in Minnesota show that Kosar has been ticketed for speeding twice in the past 13 months and convicted both times.