Driver in crash that killed woman on I-94 ramp in Minneapolis facing charges
Police investigated along the I-94 ramp at West Broadway early Wednesday morning.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The driver in a deadly crash that killed a 21-year-old woman near the Interstate 94 ramp in Minneapolis on Wednesday morning has been charged with criminal vehicular homicide.
Tiwan Darnell Puller, 31, of St. Paul, was arrested after the crash that killed Alexandra Joyce Renee Perkins of Hopkins. Puller remains in custody.
According to the criminal complaint filed by Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, the incident began around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday when Puller, who was driving a black BMW, rear-ended a white Volkswagen while driving on southbound I-94 and then speed away, exiting onto West Broadway Avenue.
The driver of the Volkswagen followed Puller and watched him go through a yellow light at West Broadway Avenue before hitting Perkins, who was standing on the sidewalk, according to the complaint. Perkins died at the scene.
The complaint says Puller then attempted to drive back onto I-94, but struck a concrete barrier and then a metal guardrail on the on-ramp. With his BWM disabled, Puller then allegedly attempted to enter the passenger seat of the white Volkswagen before troopers arrived on the scene.
The complaint says Puller, when being interviewed by a trooper, said, "I f----- up sir, I hit somebody, she is over there and I think she is dead."
The trooper noticed a "strong odor" of alcohol and marijuana on Puller’s breath and observed that his eyes were bloodshot and his speech was slurred, the complaint says. He was given a blood test, but the results were still pending when the complaint was filed.