An out-of-state trucker was checking maps on his phone and GPS unit when he caused a three-vehicle crash last week on a Twin Cities highway that killed a pickup driver, according to the State Patrol.
The crash occurred early last Wednesday afternoon northeast of Cottage Grove on Hwy. 95 at S. 70th Street in Denmark Township, the patrol said.
The semitrailer truck was heading north on Hwy. 95 when it hit one pickup on eastbound 70th and sent it crashing into a second pickup, the patrol said.
The pickup driver hit by the semi, Shane Joseph Loughney, 48, of Woodville, Wis., died at Regions Hospital on Saturday, a court filing Monday read. The other drivers survived their injuries.
The semi’s driver, Gurusevak Singh, 27, of Indianapolis, admitted to a state trooper that he was to blame for the crash, according to a search warrant affidavit filed by the patrol asking for court permission to obtain Loughney’s medical records from Regions Hospital.
“Singh had been looking at a combination of maps on his phone and a separate GPS unit [that] distracted him from seeing stop signs,” the filing read. “[The] crash ... was caused by Singh’s negligent conduct.”
The intersection is controlled by stop signs in all directions.
Potential charges against Singh are pending. Contact information for him was not immediately available.
