Crime & Safety

UPDATED: Texting Mom Charged in Minnetonka Crash

A woman has been charged with felony texting and driving in connection with an October 2010 crash in Minnetonka that left one person badly injured.

An Eden Prairie woman has been charged with felony texting and driving after, prosecutors allege, she hit and badly injured a motorcyclist in Minnetonka because she was distracted by her cell phone. Prosecutors claim the mother of two was reaching for her cell phone to read an incoming text message at the time of the accident. 

“Obviously she was reaching down for the cell phone that was vibrating," Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said at a press conference Tuesday. 

Hennepin County attorneys say that on the morning of Oct. 7, 2010, 20-year-old Amanda Elizabeth Manzanares was driving without insurance and under a restricted instructional permit when she drove her car across the centerline of Excelsior Boulevard in Minnetonka and struck a man riding a motorcycle. The man suffered severe injuries that have, to-date, required $500,000 in surgeries and other medical care.

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“She had been texting before the accident. The victim…saw her car veering over into his lane. He could not see her face. He could only see the top of her head,” Freeman said. 

After retrieving Manzanares' cell phone at the scene, Minnetonka police investigators found a series of text message exchanges and calls on Manzanares' phone that were made and received in the minutes surrounding the collision.

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But, according to court documents, Manzanares denied using her phone at the time of the accident, telling Minnetonka police she had “blacked-out,” was tired, that she hadn't taken prescribed medication and that she was still getting comfortable as a driver.   

Today Freeman dismissed Manzanares’ account and said prosecutors have “a pretty solid case.” A call to Manzanares' home for comment has not been returned. 

“She’s not the first defendant to have an explanation for her wrongful conduct,” he said.  “We know she was texting beforehand and that immediately after the 911 call, she made two other phone calls.”

In Minnesota, it is illegal for drivers to read, compose or send texts and emails or to access the Web on a wireless device while the vehicle is in motion or a part of traffic—including at a stoplight or while stuck in traffic.

Officials have charged Manzanares with six counts in total, including a felony of "grossly negligent" operation of a vehicle. The other misdemeanor charges include use of a wireless communication device while driving and parental endangerment of a child. Both of Manzanares' children, now ages 2 and 4, were in the backseat of her car when the accident happened.

Freeman said he expects Manzanares to receive workhouse time if convicted.

While prosecuting someone for felony texting and driving, as in this case, is not a first in Minnesota, Freeman said he wanted to bring this Minnetonka accident to light because he is concerned about the rise in numbers of distracted drivers statewide.

According to Minnesota Department of Public Safety numbers that Freeman cited today, driver distraction is a leading crash factor in Minnesota, accounting for around 20 percent of all crashes annually and resulting in at least 70 deaths and 350 injuries every year.

“Texting while you are driving is no good,” Freeman said. 

April 22 UPDATE: According to the Hennepin County Attorney's office, Manzanares will make her first court appearance on June 6. 


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