Speeding Tesla driver claimed no memory of fatal St. Paul crash, charges say
A Tesla driver who authorities said was speeding when he caused a fatal crash in St. Paul, Minnesota, said he had no memory of the collision afterward, according to court documents.
Musab Kosar, a 22-year-old man from Fridley, Minnesota, was charged with one count of criminal vehicular homicide in Ramsey County on Thursday.
A state trooper first saw the speeding Tesla on the ramp from Pascal Street to eastbound Interstate 94 around 2 a.m. Wednesday, a criminal complaint states. Authorities allege the driver was going nearly 30 mph over the speed limit at the time, and subsequently reached speeds in excess of 100 mph.
The trooper followed the Tesla sans lights or sirens and saw the driver turn the vehicle's lights off while exiting at Dale Street. At the top of the ramp, the trooper found a crash between the Tesla and a Toyota RAV4.
The RAV4's driver, 31-year-old Benjamin Villano, was killed in the crash. When the trooper checked on the Tesla, he found Kosar and a passenger "covered in blood and in significant pain, and both claimed no memory of the crash," the complaint states. Both were taken to a hospital, where again Kosar said he did not recall the collision.
The passenger, identified by police as a 19-year-old woman, said she had previously asked Kosar to stop speeding, "but she didn't believe he was speeding that evening," the complaint states.
"When people are driving fast, it's just so ridiculous and then so dangerous, because of instances like this," Minnesota State Patrol Lieutenant Mike Lee said in an interview with WCCO on Friday. "Speed limits are to be followed. It's a limit to be at, not to exceed."
If convicted, Kosar faces a maximum prison sentence of 10 years.