MINNEAPOLIS — A driver is now charged in an alleged distracted driving crash that claimed the life of a Plymouth woman last summer.
Prosecutors filed a criminal complaint against 41-year-old Pheng Yang of Brooklyn Park Thursday, charging him with criminal vehicular homicide in the crash, which took place on July 30, 2023.
The Minnesota State Patrol said Yang was in his Ford Econoline van driving southbound on Highway 169 near Plymouth Ave. when he rear-ended a Nissan Altima driven by 40-year-old Cristina Restrepo of Plymouth. Restrepo suffered multiple blunt force injuries and was declared dead at the hospital. She left behind a son who was 12 years old at the time of the crash.
Investigators say traffic cameras showed traffic backed up and nearly at a standstill when Yang's truck came barreling in at a high rate of speed and hit the Altima. In the criminal complaint, they noted the defendant's brake lights did not illuminate until approximately 1/10 of a second before impact.
The State Patrol calculated that Yang was driving at between 50 and 59 mph when he struck Restrepo's car, while she was going approximately 8 mph.
When interviewed by investigators Yang reportedly told them his phone was connected to YouTube and he was playing a video while driving, and also trying to change the clock in the van when the crash occurred. He allegedly remembered looking down at his phone and seeing it was 4:09 p.m., which matches the time stamp on the video that captured the fatal collision.
If found guilty, state sentencing guidelines recommend a sentence of up to 10 years in prison and $20,000 in fines.
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