Charges were pending Monday against an unlicensed driver who remains jailed Monday on suspicion that he was drunk when he crashed his vehicle in Brooklyn Park and killed his passenger.
The wreck occurred shortly before 7:30 a.m. Saturday on northbound Hwy. 252 at Humboldt Avenue, where the car slammed into a traffic signal and burst into flames, the State Patrol said.
Carlos Chavez Holliday, 36, of Minneapolis died at the scene, the patrol said.
Traffic on Hwy. 252 during Monday’s morning commute was snarled as state Department of Transportation workers repaired the traffic light, an agency spokeswoman said.
The driver, Johnny Lee Houston, 33, of Minneapolis, was taken by emergency medical responders to North Memorial Hospital in Robbinsdale and later arrested on suspicion of drunken driving, said patrol Lt. Mike Lee.
Houston’s driver’s license was revoked by the state in 2007, and his driving privileges have never been restored, a state Department of Public Safety spokesman said Monday.
Charges by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office against Houston could come early this week.
According to court records, Houston’s criminal history in Minnesota includes three convictions for illicit drugs, three for driving after either having his license revoked or suspended and one each for illegal weapons possession, disorderly conduct, falsely identifying himself to police, careless driving and speeding.
