Julio Alvarado pleads guilty to crash that killed longtime Pizza Lucé driver Aaron Zach

Remembering Aaron Zach, beloved Pizza Lucé driver killed in crash

MINNEAPOLIS — A 25-year-old man pleaded guilty Thursday for his role in a south Minneapolis crash that killed a delivery driver last August.

Julio Alvarado pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal vehicular homicide for the death of 42-year-old Aaron Zach, according to Hennepin County court documents.

The crash occurred at West 50th Street and Lyndale Avenue South just before 1 a.m. on Aug. 5, killing Zach, a longtime driver for Pizza Lucé who was working at the time of the crash.

READ MORE: Driver's BAC was 3 times the legal limit after crash that killed Pizza Lucé driver Aaron Zach

Aaron Zach Pizza Lucé

According to a criminal complaint, Alvarado failed three field sobriety tests, and said he had "at least a Long Island iced tea" and "a little bit to drink." A breath test put his BAC at .268, more than three times the legal limit of .08.

Police said Zach's vehicle, "looked as if it was caved in from a forceful impact," and Alvarado's "sustained significant damage to the front end of the vehicle and the engine compartment was compressed in half."

One witness estimated Alvarado had been going 50 to 60 mph on Lyndale before the crash.

Alvarado's sentencing hearing is scheduled for Feb. 20.

Note: The video above originally aired Aug. 9, 2023, before Alvarado pleaded guilty.

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