Charges: Driver Was On FaceTime Call With Wife, Speeding During Deadly Crash
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A Minneapolis man is accused of being on FaceTime last spring when he was involved in a deadly, multi-car crash on a Twin Cities highway.
The Hennepin County Attorney's Office says Darrin Doral Gregory Jr., 30, faces one count of criminal vehicular homicide in connection to the crash, which took place in Richfield on Highway 62 near Interstate 35W on the morning of April 15. He was charged Tuesday via warrant.
The criminal complaint states that traffic was stop and go that morning on the eastbound side of the freeway, which was down to a single lane due to roadwork. MnDOT traffic cameras showed a Honda Civic rear-end a Chevy Equinox, causing the Civic to be disabled.
Seconds later, a Ford F-150 truck slammed into the Civic at speeds believed to be between 74-80 mph, killing the Civic's driver, and causing the F-150 to fly over the Civic and strike both the Chevy and a Kia Optima.
Investigators later determined that at the time of the crash, the driver of the F-150 -- Gregory -- was speeding in a truck with tires that were larger than the recommended size, while in the middle of a FaceTime call with his wife. The state patrol's crash reconstruction showed that Gregory was "traveling straight and steady" and never stepped on the brakes before impact.
Gregory, who is not in police custody, faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.