100+ mph intersection crash leads to homicide charges for St. Paul man

A St. Paul man is facing homicide charges after a crash at a four-way intersection left one person dead when the driver, estimated to be going more than 100 mph, failed to stop.Paw Moo Htoo, 21, faces one count of criminal vehicular homicide resulting from a crash around 7:37 p.m. on May 11.According to the St. Paul Police Department, officers responded to the intersection at Arlington Avenue and Dale Street, where they found the driver of a Volvo XC90 unresponsive and trapped inside.At the scene, responding officers found the Volvo with its driver’s side lifted into the air, and a "large, catastrophic impact area" according to charges.The Volvo’s front end was smashed into the front of a Honda Accord that had "severe front-end damage" consistent with having crashed into the Volvo, police say.A witness told police she was driving north on Dale Street and stopped at a four-way when the Accord sped through the intersection going "100 mph" as they crashed into the Volvo that had begun to cross.The Accord crashed into the Volvo without stopping, witnesses claim in charging documents. The intersection has red flashing lights in all directions, and the posted speed limit on Arlington Avenue is 25 mph.In the charges, a witness says they saw Htoo exit the Accord through its driver-side window, and his speech was slurred, when male bystanders were able to corral him to sit down until police arrived.The driver of the Volvo was pronounced dead at the scene at 8:08 p.m.When police spoke with Htoo, who was seated on the grass near the crash, they reported smelling a "distinct odor of alcoholic beverages" coming from him.When asked what happened, he said, "I was not driving. I was not the driver," according to charges.As part of the investigation, police say they found nine empty beer cans inside the cupholder, and on the floorboard of Htoo’s Accord.Preliminary distance and speed calculations from the crash scene indicate the Accord was traveling at more than 100 mph at the time it crashed into the Volvo.A search warrant was obtained, and a sample of blood was collected from Htoo at 10:05 p.m. and was submitted to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) for analysis.Htoo is currently being treated at Regions Hospital.