Minneapolis: Youth Pleads Guilty to Causing Vehicle Crash That Killed Three White People

Dayquan Hodge.

Of course, he was driving a stolen car.

Of course, the police were on his trail before he crashed.

And, of course, he just happened to be black.

KSTP:

A Minneapolis teen accused of hitting a vehicle, killing three people, after a police pursuit in September has pleaded guilty to criminal vehicular homicide.

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said Tuesday that Dayquan Hodge, 18, entered the plea to three counts of criminal vehicular homicide on Friday.

According to a criminal complaint, a Minnesota State Patrol trooper saw a vehicle that was reported stolen at about 1:15 a.m. on September 23 of last year on Interstate 94. After following the vehicle to a stoplight, the trooper turned on his lights to get Hodge to pull over, but he sped away, running red lights and reaching speeds between 80 and 90 mph, the complaint said.

Troopers terminated the chase, but Hodge continued to speed through red lights, traveling five more blocks before crashing into a truck at Cedar and 35th Street East, authorities said.

The three people in the truck – Kenneth Carpentier, 64, and his wife, Sheryl Carpentier, 65, of Bullhead City, Arizona and their close friend Kimberly Gunderson, 48, of Minneapolis – were pronounced dead at the scene.

During his plea hearing, the attorney’s office says Hodge admitted to knowing the vehicle he was driving was stolen and that he intentionally fled at high speeds to avoid being stopped by police. He also admitted to smoking marijuana prior to driving.

Hodge had four juvenile passengers in his vehicle, each of whom suffered serious injuries but survived.

His sentencing is set for June 5.

Kimberly Gunderson, left, and Kenneth and Sheryl Carpentier.