Charges have been filed in Blue Earth County District Court against 30 year old Jenna Phuong-Thao Luong, who allegedly struck members of the Maple River Cross Country Team last summer while they were bicycling near Mapleton.
The crash left a 13 and 16 year old seriously injured, while 3 other bicyclists, ages 12, 16 and 52, suffered minor injuries.
A criminal complaints says Luong was emotional and crying when police arrived at the scene of the accident. Luong told officers she was changing the radio station and when she looked up, there were “bicyclists all over the roadway and she could not stop in time.”
Police say Luong showed no sign of impairment and a search of her phone showed she was not using the device at the time of the crash.
Crash reconstruction determined that Luong was traveling about 46-52 mph before the crash and she allegedly hit the bicyclists at about 29-32 mph after attempting to brake.
Luong was charged Tuesday with misdemeanor careless driving for the August 5th, 2022 crash.