Man Charged in Burnsville Crash That Killed 16-year-old Girl, Injured Another
A Farmington man faces charges after allegedly causing a high-speed crash that killed a 16-year-old girl and seriously injured a 15-year-old girl, both passengers in his vehicle.
Alejandro Jesus Saavedra, 21, has been charged with one count of criminal vehicular homicide and one count of criminal vehicular operation.
The charges stem from a fatal crash in Burnsville on April 9 that killed 16-year-old Sydney Kohner and injured a 15-year-old girl, both of Rosemount.
Saavedra made his first appearance Tuesday in Dakota County District Court, where bail was set at $250,000.
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According to a criminal complaint filed in court:
On April 9, around 6:10 a.m., Burnsville police officers responded to a hotel on a noise complaint. While driving through the parking lot of the hotel, an officer observed a male and two younger females running through the parking lot, but then lost sight of the group.
The officer observed a white Lexus parked in the lot with its headlights and taillights illuminated. The driver was leaning back in the driver’s seat as if trying to avoid detection by the officer. The driver next quickly backed out of the parking spot and accelerated at a high rate of speed out of the hotel parking lot. The officer followed.
> FACEBOOK: Our original post on the crash Saturday morning
The Lexus turned westbound on Fairview Drive without slowing down for the intersection. At the intersection of Fairview Drive and Nicollet Avenue, the vehicle travelled through red lights for southbound Nicollet Avenue traffic without slowing down.
The officer observed the vehicle take a sharp right turn off Nicollet Avenue onto Grand Avenue at a high rate of speed, striking at least one curb as it turned and accelerated onto Grand Avenue. The officer observed a tire from the vehicle dislodge and roll into the roadway.
The officer ultimately lost sight of the Lexus as it accelerated onto Grand Avenue and alerted dispatch to request assistance of other officers in an attempt to locate the Lexus.
Officers soon located the Lexus off the roadway on the south side of a USPS parking ramp. The Lexus would have missed the turn, continued straight off of eastbound Grand Avenue and struck a concrete pillar of the parking ramp.
The engine compartment and engine block were crushed and crumpled. Officers located a male driver, identified as Alejandro Saavedra, pinned in the driver’s seat, who was conscious and alert. First responders worked to extricate Saavedra from the wreckage of the vehicle.
Officers observed two unconscious juvenile females in the backseat. The 15-year-old victim was transported to the Hennepin County Medical Center by ambulance with serious injuries. The second female, identified as 16-year-old Sydney Nicole Kohner, was declared deceased at the scene due to the severity of her injuries.
The criminal complaint says Saavedra later admitted to buying alcohol for a party at the hotel, telling investigators that he drank alcohol and used cocaine there before the crash. Alcohol, controlled substances and drug paraphernalia were found in a hotel room after a search warrant was served, investigators said.
Bail was set in the amount of $250,000 without conditions ($150,000 with conditions) by Dakota County District Court Judge David Lutz. Saavedra’s next court appearance is scheduled for April 28, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. in Hastings.
Saavedra has prior convictions for fleeing a peace officer (not in a motor vehicle) in 2019, a 2019 misdemeanor theft conviction in Apple Valley, speeding, driving without a license and a 2018 conviction for DWI.
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