On October 15, 2025, around 2:32 A.M., officers responded to a vehicle injury accident near Central Avenue Northeast and Columbia Parkway in Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota. Dispatch notes reflected that two vehicles had hit a moving train and that one car was on fire. Upon arrival, officers noted a freight train traveling west across train tracks at Central Avenue Northeast and two heavily damaged vehicles on the south side of the train. The railroad crossing guards were flashing red and the stop gates were down.
Officers identified the victim vehicle as a 2008 Cadillac Escalade and the suspect vehicle as a 2017 Toyota Rav4. The ensuing investigation determined that (1) the victim vehicle had stopped at the crossing for the moving train, (2) the suspect vehicle had rear-ended the victim vehicle at a high speed, (3) the collision had pushed the victim vehicle through the crossing gate arm, and (4) the suspect vehicle had struck a sign and then the passing train. The driver of the victim vehicle (“Victim 1”) sustained serious injuries and was transported to Hennepin Healthcare.
At the scene, Victim 1 relayed that her vehicle was stopped in the left lane at the train tracks when the suspect vehicle drove up from behind and crashed into her vehicle. After the crash impact, Victim 1 flew from the driver’s seat into the passenger seat. Officers observed that Victim 1 could not move and that she complained of significant pain to her lower back and buttocks areas. Victim 2 was in the front passenger seat of the victim vehicle. She reported that the victim vehicle was stopped at the intersection for about five minutes due to the passing train.
The suspect vehicle then crashed into the victim vehicle, causing Victim 1 to fly from the driver’s seat on top of Victim 2. The crash caused the victim vehicle to crash into a train car. Victim 2 reported having glass in her face and mouth. Officers identified the driver of the suspect vehicle as Defendant MUSTAFA OMER HASSAN, born 11/30/1992. The speedometer on the suspect vehicle was locked at 68–69 m.p.h. Responding paramedics noted that Defendant appeared intoxicated. An officer observed that Defendant had bloodshot eyes and different sized pupils.
Defendant also sustained serious injuries and required transport to the hospital. An investigator obtained a signed search warrant to collect a blood sample from Defendant. Hospital staff executed the search warrant and obtained a blood draw at 6:37 A.M. Laboratory testing on that sample revealed that Defendant had an alcohol concentration of 0.223 ± 0.013 grams per 100 milliliters of blood. Witness 1 told officers that he saw the suspect vehicle traveling at a high speed before rear-ending the victim vehicle.
Witness 1 saw both vehicles hit the train. Witness 1 assisted in removing Defendant from the suspect vehicle. Witness 2 saw the suspect vehicle driving “above the speed limit” near 35th Avenue Northeast before the crash occurred. In a follow-up statement, Victim 1 estimated that the suspect vehicle was driving 85–90 m.p.h. Before it crashed into the victim vehicle. Victim 2 estimated that the suspect vehicle was driving over 70 m.p.h. Before the crash. The posted speed limit at the crash location is 30 m.p.h. Victim 1 spent about two weeks hospitalized due to her injuries from the crash.
