State police say alcohol was a factor in the Minneapolis crash that killed one, left a toddler and injured nine others

MINNEAPOLIS – A 26-year-old Minneapolis woman is dead and 10 others are injured in an alcohol-related seven-vehicle crash Wednesday evening near downtown.

According to the Minnesota State Patrol, this happened around 9:17 p.m. when a driver of a Chevy Avalanche exited eastbound Interstate 94 toward Lyndale Avenue “at a high rate of speed,” causing “severe damage to multiple vehicles” near Dunwoody Boulevard. caused.

Investigators say the driver of the Chevy, a 29-year-old man from St. Paul, had been drinking. He has minor injuries, but his passenger, a 20-year-old woman from St. Paul, suffered life-threatening injuries.

The woman killed, Natalie Gubbay, was the driver of a Jeep. A passenger in the Jeep, a 28-year-old woman from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, suffered injuries that were not considered life-threatening. State police initially identified Gubbay as a passenger in the Jeep, but later said she was the driver.

The seven other victims, ages 2 to 62, suffered non-life-threatening injuries, state police reported.

Court records show the driver of the Chevy had his license revoked and had previous convictions for careless driving and driving with an open bottle and a controlled substance.

“These people are just innocent. They don’t drink and drive, but they are the ones who get hurt,” said Lauren Johnson of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

According to the Department of Public Safety, alcohol has contributed to 71 deaths on Minnesota roads so far this year.

Authorities closed that stretch of Lyndale Avenue for hours after the accident. Traffic cameras showed vehicles turning around and people getting out and leaving.