One dead in Minnetonka crash following police pursuit

The initial police call was for vehicles racing in Eden Prairie.

September 5, 2021 at 4:26PM

One person is dead and another has been hospitalized in a crash that followed a police pursuit in the western Twin Cities suburbs early Sunday morning.

Eden Prairie police responded to a 911 call of racing vehicles at 1:40 a.m. Sunday near Flying Cloud Drive and Crosstown Circle, said Lt. Jess Irmiter. Several vehicles fled the area when police arrived.

An officer pursued one vehicle, losing sight of it as it passed under Interstate 494, Irmiter said. A wrecked vehicle later was found in the 5300 block of Baker Road in Minnetonka. One man was dead at the scene and a woman was taken to the hospital.

No other vehicle was involved in the crash. The Minnesota State Patrol and Hennepin County Sheriff's Office are assisting in the investigation.

A neighbor who heard the crash told WCCO-TV that street racing is common in the area on weekends. Eden Prairie Police declined to provide any additional details about the crash.

Twin Cities law enforcement has flagged street racing as a growing problem.

In April, a group of vehicles racing and doing burnouts inside the westbound Lowry Hill tunnel shut down Interstate 94.

Last October, dozens of drivers were cited and arrested in a street-racing crackdown. In one weekend, more than 100 vehicles were pulled over. Twenty-nine citations were issued and 22 arrests were made in a coordinated law enforcement effort across the Twin Cities.

about the writer

Shannon Prather

Reporter

Shannon Prather covers Ramsey County for the Star Tribune. Previously, she covered philanthropy and nonprofits. Prather has two decades of experience reporting for newspapers in Minnesota, California, Idaho, Wisconsin and North Dakota. She has covered a variety of topics including the legal system, law enforcement, education, municipal government and slice-of-life community news.

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