Plymouth fatal crash: Man was playing YouTube video, changing clock, charges say
MNDOT traffic footage shows the moment before a fatal crash in Plymouth in July 2023.
PLYMOUTH, Minn. (FOX 9) - A Brooklyn Park man is charged with vehicular homicide for a fatal crash that happened on Highway 169 in Plymouth last summer.
Pheng Yang, 41, of Brooklyn Park, is charged with one count of criminal vehicular homicide in a crash that took the life of local hairstylist and makeup artist Cristina Restrepo on July 30, 2023. She left behind a 12-year-old son after she died at the hospital.
The crash happened just before 4:10 p.m. north of Highway 55 on July 30, 2023, and was captured by traffic monitoring camera footage.
A criminal complaint states Yang was driving a 2002 Ford Econoline box truck when it crashed into the back of a 2014 Nissan Altima being driven by Restrepo while traffic was backed up on Highway 169. The crash sent the Altima into a 2021 Chevy Tahoe that spun nearly 180 degrees.
Minnesota State Patrol (MSP) investigators say they estimate Yang was driving between 50 and 59 mph while Restrepo was believed to be going just under 10 mph. The front end of the box truck went airborne during the cash, and footage shows the brake lights didn't illuminate until about 0.1 seconds before the crash.
Court documents say while Yang was giving a statement to MSP, he said he didn’t see the traffic backed up and slowing. He added that his phone was connected to a Bluetooth speaker and was playing a YouTube story at the time of the crash.
Yang said he "remembered looking at his phone prior to the crash and was trying to change the clock in his car," according to the complaint.
His first court appearance is set for the afternoon of June 3.