Woman Accused of Running Down Man During Golden Valley Crash

Sep 4

*The scene of a fatal crash in Golden Valley last May.* ***MN CRIME PHOTO***

A Mounds View woman is facing manslaughter and vehicular homicide charges after a deadly crash in Golden Valley earlier this year.

According to the criminal complaint, 40-year-old Sara Anne Persons is charged with first-degree manslaughter and two counts of criminal vehicular homicide in the May 30 incident that left a man dead.

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Golden Valley police and state troopers responded just before midnight to Duluth Street near Highway 100, where they found a Ford pickup and a Chevy Trailblazer stopped on the sidewalk. Officers found 42-year-old Michael Thomas Lawver on the ground with severe injuries, including a deep abdominal laceration. Lawver was taken to a hospital but later died from his injuries.

Investigators said Persons had been driving the Chevy SUV while the victim was driving the Ford pickup with another man as his passenger. Both the passenger and Persons told officers they knew each other and the victim, and all were methamphetamine users. The passenger said he and Lawver were traveling on Highway 100 when Lawver swerved his truck toward Persons’ SUV, causing her to hit a median. The group then exited onto Duluth Street, where the passenger said he grabbed the steering wheel to force the victim’s truck onto the sidewalk so he would stop. Lawver began to get out of the truck when Persons drove into the truck and struck him.

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Crash reconstruction showed Persons’ SUV, damaged from the earlier median strike, left scrape marks as it moved directly toward the parked pickup without any indication she tried to turn or avoid it. Lawver was dragged about 43 feet before Persons stopped and reversed. Investigators concluded she intentionally drove at the truck and victim. Officers later found a small amount of meth in her purse, and her blood tested positive for methamphetamine and amphetamine.

Persons was arrested at the scene, but she was released until formal charges were filed. Prosecutors say she poses a danger to public safety, and a judge issued a warrant for her arrest. If convicted, Persons faces up to 15 years in prison for the manslaughter charge and 10 years each for the vehicular homicide counts.

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