Driver Charged After Cellphone Use Allegedly Leads to Rollover Crash in St. Bonifacius
ST. BONIFACIUS MN: — A driver has been charged after prosecutors allege he was using his cellphone moments before a crash that caused an SUV carrying a woman and two children to overturn on Highway 7 in St. Bonifacius. Officers later reported finding the driver's phone open to a dating application, according to a Hennepin County criminal complaint.
Zachary Thomas Simmons, 26, is charged in Hennepin County District Court with gross misdemeanor criminal vehicular operation resulting in bodily harm through gross negligence and misdemeanor use of a wireless communications device while driving.
According to the criminal complaint, Minnetrista police responded Aug. 17th to a crash at Highway 7 and Maplewood Road in St. Bonifacius.
Police arrived to find a 2007 Toyota Sequoia overturned and resting in the area of oncoming traffic, according to the complaint. A woman and two children, ages 15 and 8 at the time, had been inside the SUV.
The woman told police she had been traveling west on Highway 7 and had signaled to turn left onto southbound Maplewood Road when a Chevrolet Silverado traveling behind her struck the rear of her SUV. The impact allegedly caused the Sequoia to spin and overturn.
Investigators identified Simmons as the driver of the Silverado.
According to the complaint, Simmons told an officer he had accessed his work phone while driving because he was attempting to clock out of work. He allegedly said he kept one hand on the steering wheel while manipulating the phone with his other hand and estimated he had been looking at the device for approximately two to three seconds before the collision.
Other officers reported seeing Simmons' phone on the driver's seat of his vehicle and said it appeared to be open to a dating application, according to the complaint. Simmons allegedly told police the dating application had been open and that he had been unable to switch to his work account to clock out before the crash.
The woman and the two children later went to Ridgeview Waconia Hospital for evaluation.
According to medical records cited in the complaint, the woman was diagnosed with neck pain, an acute headache and an abrasion on the top of her head. One of the children was diagnosed with an acute headache, muscle soreness and bruising to the left thigh.
Prosecutors allege Simmons caused bodily harm by operating a motor vehicle in a grossly negligent manner.
The charges are allegations. Simmons is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.