Wrong-Way Driver Slams Into Car With Woman and Unborn Child in ‘Catastrophic’ Crash

(Minneapolis Police Department)

A driver possibly under the influence of drugs and driving the wrong way on a road in Minnesota slammed into a vehicle carrying a pregnant woman on Oct. 17, killing the woman and her unborn child.

The Minneapolis Police Department started getting reports of a “catastrophic” crash on Newton Avenue North around 10:50 p.m., the department said in a release.

Police officers, firefighters, and ambulances were dispatched to the scene, where emergency responders found several vehicles with heavy damage.

“Upon arrival, officers found several vehicles smashed into each other with one vehicle having rolled over. Officers found several bystanders that were providing comfort to two individuals that were trapped in a minivan that had rolled over. Other officers took two individuals from the suspect vehicle into custody,” police said.

A driver who may have been under the influence of narcotics was driving the wrong way on a road in Minneapolis on Oct. 17, 2019, when they slammed into a vehicle carrying a pregnant woman and her eight-month-old unborn child, authorities said. The woman and child both died. (Minneapolis Police Department)

Early results of an investigation indicated an SUV was traveling southbound against the northbound traffic on the road when it hit a parked car before slamming into a minivan and other vehicles.

Police officers and firefighters spent nearly an hour trying to extricate the pregnant woman, who was in her 30s, but she died before she could be removed.

The unborn child, who was eight months old, also died.

The driver of the minivan and the two occupants from the vehicle going the wrong way were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.

“It is believed that possible narcotics use and speed may be contributing factors to this crash,” police said.

“Words like senseless and tragic are really key words that defined this incident,” Minneapolis Police Department spokesperson John Elder told KTSP. “You have a woman who is dead in her thirties, eight months pregnant, and there’s an unborn child that’s passed as well. Because somebody was operating a vehicle in such a reckless manner possibly under the influence of narcotics. All of that is preventable.”

Minneapolis Police Department Crime Laboratory personnel were processing the scene with the Minneapolis Traffic Unit and the Minneapolis Homicide Unit was expected to be involved with the probe.

The identities of the deceased along with the nature and cause of death will be released by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office.