Plea deal means probation for teen whose daredevil ‘drifts’ on Twin Cities road killed best friend

The trial for a teenager scheduled to start Tuesday was canceled after he agreed to a probationary sentence for crashing and killing one of his three 16-year-old passengers while doing thrill-seeking “drifts” on a Twin Cities gravel road.

Juan Enrique Perez, 19, of Jordan plead guilty and was sentenced Wednesday in Scott County District Court to a gross misdemeanor count of criminal vehicular operation in connection with the death of Benjamin Camacho on May 23, 2023, in the 18000 block of Valley View Drive in Sand Creek Township.

Perez, who was 17 at the time of the crash and prosecuted in juvenile court, is being spared incarceration and will be on probation until his 21st birthday in July 2026, according to the plea agreement.

The County Attorney’s Office initially charged Perez with criminal vehicular homicide, a felony, but opted to go with the lesser count as part of the plea agreement.

After District Judge Paula Vraa accepted the plea agreement, County Attorney Ron Hocevar explained why his office accepted those terms.

“[Perez] took responsibility for causing the accident that killed a close friend and made no excuses,” Hocevar told the Minnesota Star Tribune. “No alcohol or drugs were involved in this incident.

“At sentencing, he apologized to the deceased’s family for his actions. It was very emotional as the deceased’s mom and defendant did hug. She said she prayed for him, and everyone in the courtroom was in tears.”

Camacho attended Jordan High School, where Principal Jeff Vizenor said in a note to district families shortly afterward that the junior “brought energy and a smile through the hallways. He was growing into a great young man and will be missed.”

According to the juvenile petition, based in part on law enforcement interviews with the driver and his passengers:

Emergency responders arrived about 8:40 p.m. to find an SUV, with its doors and windows taken off, on its side in a ditch. Emergency responders declared Camacho dead at the scene. Perez and his other two passengers survived their injuries.

Perez said he lost control of the SUV. He also said he didn’t have a license to drive. The State Department of Public Safety said Perez had an instruction permit at the time of the crash, which allowed him to drive but only when an adult with a driver’s license is in the front passenger seat.

One passenger added that the four of them had been drifting — oversteering and sending the vehicle sideways — in the area for about 50 minutes.

At one point, the passenger said he felt what Perez was doing was risky and told him to “down it a bit.” But Perez ignored his friend.

While heading south on a gravel stretch of Valley View Drive, Perez crossed railroad tracks, drifted yet again, hit the anchor cable to a utility pole and landed in a ditch.

The friend said Perez crashed because he overcorrected his drift and the rear of the SUV swung out. He recalled seeing an unbelted Camacho sliding around.

A State Patrol investigation determined Perez was traveling between 32 and 35 miles per hour at the time in a 30 mph zone.