Charge: Woman flies off back of motorcycle as drunk brother leaves her badly injured on Hwy. 61

A motorcyclist was drunk and speeding when he struck the back of an SUV on a Twin Cities highway and sent his sister off the Harley-Davidson to the pavement, leaving her behind with critical injuries, according to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday.

Lonnie William Cory, 70, of Inver Grove Heights, was charged in Washington County District Court with criminal vehicular operation in connection with the rolling incident shortly before 7 p.m. Sunday on Hwy. 61 near Summit Avenue in St. Paul Park, the State Patrol said.

Within two hours, Cory was arrested about 7 miles away at his home on suspicion of being drunk at the time of the collision, said Patrol Lt. Mike Lee.

Cory remains jailed in lieu of $35,000 bail. He’s due in court on Aug. 14. Court records do not list an attorney for him.

Law enforcement gave Cory a preliminary breath test that night, and it measured his blood alcohol content at 0.127%, more than 1½ times the legal limit for driving in Minnesota, the complaint read.

His passenger, Kimberly Ann Robinson, 60, of Newport, was taken by emergency medical personnel to Regions Hospital and was in critical condition as of Tuesday afternoon.

The patrol said she was not wearing a helmet. The complaint noted that Robinson suffered a severe head injury and “serious, permanent disfigurement.”

According to the complaint:

Officers arrived where Robinson fell off the motorcycle and saw her motionless on the right shoulder of northbound Hwy. 61 before medics took her to Regions.

A motorist told officers that his dashcam captured the crash. He said he was going 80 miles per hour when the motorcyclist “flipped him off” as he passed, the complaint read.

The motorist saw the SUV move to the right from the left lane to allow the motorcycle to pass, but the motorcyclist “drove up next to the Land Rover and struck [it] in the rear bumper on the driver’s side,” the complaint continued.

The motorcycle wobbled, causing Robinson to be thrown off the back. Cory drove away. A Minnesota Department of Transportation traffic camera captured Cory stopping at the top of the next exit ramp and look back at the crash scene.

Cory said he knew she fell off the motorcycle but kept going because he was afraid. He acknowledged that he “nicked” the SUV and looked back to see his sister had fallen.