A Minneapolis man was driving 90 mph when he crashed into a car parked in a St. Paul church parking lot, causing a man to be thrown from the parked car, according to a criminal vehicular homicide charge filed Tuesday.
Lorenzo Leontay Washington, 28, had been fleeing from law enforcement, who said they called off the pursuit about half a mile before he crashed.
The crash happened at 11:22 p.m. Sunday in the parking lot of Gustavus Adolphus Lutheran Church on Arcade Street near Larpenteur Avenue. Day Por Tho, 36, was the only person in the Mazda 3 when his car was hit by Washington’s car, according to the Minnesota State Patrol.
Washington had a warrant from the Minnesota Department of Corrections when the State Patrol tried to pull him over for speeding.
The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office charged him Tuesday with fleeing a peace officer, resulting in death, and criminal vehicular homicide as a result of operating a motor vehicle in a grossly negligent manner.
The criminal complaint gives the following information from prosecutors:
At 11:18 p.m. Sunday, a state trooper was on patrol on the ramp from Pascal Street to eastbound Interstate 94 in St. Paul when he saw a Toyota Camry. Radar showed it was traveling 86 mph in a 55 mph zone. The trooper pulled the car over in the area of Marion Street, but the driver sped away before the trooper could talk to him.
The trooper pursued the Camry and the Ramsey County sheriff’s office assisted. The Camry went east on I-94, north on Interstate 35E and east on Larpenteur Avenue.
“During the pursuit, the Camry drove recklessly, made unsafe changes of driving course, drove at speeds over 100 mph, ignored traffic controls, and did not stop for emergency lights and sirens on marked Minnesota State Patrol vehicles,” the complaint said.
Troopers stopped the pursuit, the State Patrol said Monday. A Ramsey County deputy also “discontinued the pursuit once the Minnesota State Patrol helicopter located the suspect vehicle,” according to a Monday statement from the sheriff’s office. The church is approximately another half-mile east.
The driver lost control on Larpenteur Avenue near the intersection of Parkway Drive, drove over the south curb of Larpenteur Avenue and into the church parking lot. The Camry struck the driver’s side of the Mazda, causing it spin and ejecting Day Por Tho. His body was found about 30 feet away in the southbound lanes of Arcade Street, and he was pronounced dead.
The only person in the Camry ran and was arrested by a Ramsey County sheriff’s deputy. He was identified as Washington.
Law enforcement obtained a search warrant to collect a sample of Washington’s blood or urine. Results of testing weren’t yet known.
At the hospital, Washington spoke to an investigator and intially wouldn’t confirm he was the driver “and suggested he was an occupant of the vehicle,” the complaint said.
“When asked what happened after the crash, Washington responded, ‘Uh, commotion … lights,’” the complaint continued. “At some point in the interview, Washington was advised he was being investigated for criminal vehicular homicide. Washington showed emotion, and made statements inferring that he was the driver of the vehicle.”
He said a bump caused him to lose control of the vehicle, which went up a grass embankment to Larpenteur Avenue. He said he didn’t see the car he hit.
Washington said he saw the sheriff’s deputy turn off his emergency lights, that he began to slow and then crashed.
“After being asked again if he was the driver of the Camry, Washington said, ‘You’re going to force me to say it. I already told you wasn’t nobody else in the vehicle. I believe I told him that already.’”
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Washington was on intensive supervised release from prison since May. He was sentenced to a prison term of nearly 11 years in 2014 for attempted murder in a shooting in Minneapolis.
Then, Washington was sentenced in August 2023 to 2½ years in prison, with credit for more than a year served, for possession of a firearm by a person prohibited because of a conviction of a crime of violence. Most people convicted of felonies in Minnesota serve two-thirds of their prison sentence in custody and the remainder on supervision in the community.
The Department of Corrections issued a warrant for Washington in July for alleged violations of his condition of release, according to the department.