Driver Facing Charges In Fatal St. Louis Park Pond Crash
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A woman driving a car with five children inside when it plunged into a St. Louis Park holding pond last November spent Wednesday morning in Hennepin County Court.
According to court documents, 23-year-old Marian Guerrido of Brooklyn Center was driving without a valid license at Highways 100 and 7 when she veered and crashed into a pond. The car was completely submerged, and two of the five small children in the car died. It took rescuers more than 40 minutes to pull all of the children out.
Guerrido escaped unharmed. She is the mother of three of the kids that were involved in the crash. The other two are the children of her boyfriend.
The Hennepin County Attorney's Office decided in March not to press felony charges against Guerrido. A reconstruction of the accident, tests and interviews with Guerrido showed she was not speeding, did not have drugs or alcohol in her system and had not been on her cell phone. But she does face lesser charges in a Hennepin County criminal and traffic court.
Guerrido had her first court appearance in that case Wednesday morning. They declined to speak with WCCO-TV after the hearing, but her attorney Rick Petry said he's preparing for a pretrial conference with prosecutors to see if it will go to trial.
Guerrido is facing two misdemeanor charges for driving without a license, for being an uninsured driver and a petty misdemeanor charge for improper use of child restraints systems in the car.
The maximum sentences for these charges are a $1,000 fine and up to 90 days in jail, or both. For not using proper child restraints, the maximum charge is $50.
Petry said his client is expected in court again July 9.