Driver reported he had ‘several glasses’ of alcohol before crash that injured 4, charges say

April 03--Prosecutors charged a 22-year-old with criminal vehicle operation Monday after police say he crashed his vehicle into a Green Line light-rail power pole in St. Paul, injuring the four passengers inside.

One remained in critical condition Monday.

Kanyi Lee Williams admitted to investigators that he consumed "several glasses of a hard-liquor mix" before the Friday afternoon crash, according to the criminal complaint filed against him in Ramsey County District Court. (Williams' first name is sometimes spelled "Kayni" in other records.)

The St. Paul man faces four felony-level counts of criminal vehicular operation.

Williams was arrested Friday after officers arrived at the crash at University Avenue and Chatsworth Street about 4:45 p.m. and found him walking nearby.

He was slurring and smelled of alcohol, the complaint said. His four passengers remained trapped inside his vehicle.

A preliminary breath test indicated his blood-alcohol level was 0.118, legal documents say. The results of a blood test are pending. The legal limit to drive in Minnesota is 0.08.

Williams told police he was traveling eastbound on University Avenue when he went into the left turn lane to try and pass another vehicle, according to a police spokesman.

He said he overcorrected as he switched back to his lane and ended up striking a power pole on the Green Line tracks.

Paramedics took front-seat passenger Lamar D. Rodriguez, and back-seat passengers Deshawn L. Perry and Brian Trnka to Regions Hospital.

Perry, 21, was listed in critical condition and Trnka, 22, in good condition on Monday. Rodriguez was released from the hospital.

Amber Schochet, 16, also a back-seat passenger, was in satisfactory condition Monday at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis.

Williams also also injured, but has since been released from the hospital and is being held in the Ramsey County jail.

He told police at the scene that he only had a glass or two of hard liquor before the accident, but later admitted to consuming "several glasses," the complaint said.

He told officers that his actions caused him "to fail his friends and that he deserve(d) whatever punishment he receives," according to legal documents.

Williams' vehicle landed between the tracks after the crash, leading to light-rail service being disrupted for several hours.

His criminal record includes a petty misdemeanor theft conviction in 2016 and two minor traffic violations. He was charged in January with driving without insurance and possession of a small amount of marijuana. That case is still pending.

No attorney was listed for Williams in court records and his family could not be immediately reached for comment.

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