A driver traveling at about 90 miles per hour on a Bloomington street rear-ended a 3-wheel motorcycle, killing its driver, according to a criminal complaint.
Lydia Cleto Akotkuel, who was 35 at the time of the alleged offense, faces a charge of criminal vehicular homicide for operating a motor vehicle in a grossly negligent manner, according to a complaint filed October 15 in Hennepin County District Court.
Officers were dispatched to the area of 90th and Portland in Bloomington on September 6 after a crash involving a 3-wheel motorcycle and another vehicle. When officers arrived, they found the motorcycle smashed and its driver dead at the scene. The other driver, identified as Akotkuel in the complaint, was found a few blocks away in a parking lot after crashing her vehicle. She was transported to the hospital.
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According to the complaint, Akotkuel later claimed she believed she had a seizure, could not move her hands and lost control of her vehicle. However, a witness reported seeing Akotkuel pass her while driving north on Portland Avenue at about 100 miles per hour, cut in front of her and behind the motorcycle, then rear-end the motorcycle.
Investigators reviewed surveillance video that captured Akotkuel’s vehicle before and during the crash. The video showed Akotkuel driving north on Portland Avenue, which has a 35 mph speed limit, at a very high rate of speed, passing other vehicles, swerving into the left-hand turn lane to get around traffic and then returning to the proper lane.
The complaint states that minimum speed calculations put Akotkuel’s vehicle between 88 and 92 miles per hour, and crash data confirmed a pre-impact speed of 90.1 mph.
The complaint says the surveillance video contradicted Akotkuel’s claim that she was not in control of her vehicle and could not move, noting that the video showed her making an evasive maneuver to avoid hitting the median before the crash.
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Jurisdictional Context
Hennepin County is Minnesota’s most populous jurisdiction. The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office handles felony prosecutions across Minneapolis and 44 other cities; the Fourth Judicial District presides over felony arraignments and trials at the Hennepin County Government Center in downtown Minneapolis.
