A 26-year-old Bloomington woman is charged with criminal vehicular homicide in a September crash on Portland Avenue that killed a man riding a 3-wheel motorcycle. Prosecutors say she was going 90 mph in a 35 mph zone.
Hennepin County court documents name her as Lydia Cleto Akotkuel. She faces 1 count of criminal vehicular homicide for driving in a negligent manner. The crash happened Sept. 6 at 90th Street and Portland Avenue. Officers found the motorcycle "smashed," and its rider, a 60-year-old man, died at the scene. His name has not been released in the charging coverage.
Investigators pulled data from the crash showing Akotkuel was going 90.1 mph just before impact, according to the charges. One witness told officers that Akotkuel passed her going about 100 mph on northbound Portland, cut in front of her, and then came up behind the motorcycle and rear-ended it. Surveillance video showed her heading north on Portland "extremely fast as she swerved and weaved between other vehicles," according to the court documents.
Akotkuel told investigators she had a seizure, couldn't move her hand and lost control of the vehicle. Prosecutors say the surveillance video doesn't match that account. According to the charges, the video shows her making an evasive maneuver to avoid hitting a median.
The crash happened on the stretch of Portland near Oxboro Library. A woman was booked that day on suspicion of criminal vehicular homicide, but formal charges came more than a month later. Akotkuel was arrested after the crash but is not in custody now, and a warrant has been issued for her arrest. The court documents don't list a court date.
Anyone who drives that part of Portland knows it as a 35 mph neighborhood street with a library, senior housing and a lot of side-street traffic. That's what makes a speed reading of 90 mph so jarring. A criminal charge is an accusation, and Akotkuel is presumed innocent unless she's convicted.
