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8/14/2019 Minneapolis Police Department Press Release
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Minneapolis Police epartment
COMMITMENT, INTEGRITY TRANSPARENCY Media Release
Media Contact:
Cyndi Barrington 612-673-3524
@MPD_PIO
Chief Harteau presents facts of fatal traffic accident
November 14, 2013 (MINNEAPOLIS) This morning at City Hall, Chief Janeé Harteaupresented the findings of the completed investigation into the fatal traffic accident thatoccurred on May 10, 2013 involving Officer Joshua Young and a motorcyclist, IvanRomeras-Olivares.
“I want to begin by reiterating that this incident was tragic for many. I would like to firstexpress my sympathies to the Romero-Oliveras family for the untimely death of Ivanand to his girlfriend, Joselin Torrejon-Vilamil who was on the motorcycle that day andwas also injured in the accident.
This is not a case of a high speed response in which an officer ran through a red light ashas been eluded to and reported. This is the case of an officer responding to a call forhelp, using caution traveling well below the posted speed, properly using red lights &siren and being struck by a motorcycle who had already lost control sliding into the rearof Officer Young squad car,” said Chief Harteau.
The MN State Patrol conducted the accident reconstruction and determined the
following:
The squad car was traveling at a speed under 16 miles per hour just before thecrash and was traveling approximately 24 – 26 miles per hour near the point ofimpact.
The motorcycle was determined to have been traveling between 32- 34 miles perhour at the start of the skid.
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Evidence indicates that the motorcycle did not achieve maximum breaking. Therear tire locked and the driver attempted to steer to the right just prior to enteringthe intersection. Since the rear tire was locked, the motorcycle lost a significantportion of its stability, which caused the motorcycle to tip onto its right side and“slide out”.
The investigator reviewed the driver’s license of Mr. Romero-Oliveras anddetermined that Mr. Romero-Oliveras did not have a motorcycle endorsement orpermit which suggests that he may have been an inexperienced motorcyclist.
The MPD investigation determined that Mr. Romero-Oliveras did not have a validdriver’s license of any kind. In addition to exceeding the speed limit, Mr. Romero-Oliveras failed to yield to an emergency vehicle as required by law. The investigatorfound no indication that Officer Young saw the motorcycle prior to the impact.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office reviewed this case for consideration of criminalcharges and declined to issue any charges. The case was also reviewed for possiblemisdemeanor charges of reckless or careless driving and there was insufficient
evidence that Officer Young acted in violation of either of the provisions.
“I am not wearing my uniform purposely to remind everyone that behind our uniformswe are human beings who even when making good faith efforts and responding to callsfor help, events such as this unfortunately can happen. This was a traffic accident, witha tragic outcome. We must also acknowledge that this negatively impacted OfficerYoung and his family as well. He is a family man, a new father, a son, a veteran on theMN Army National Guard and one of the responders to the infamous “Black HawkDown” incident, a friend to many and a really good man,” said Chief Harteau.
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