Second teen dies in northeast Minneapolis crash

A second teen has died after an early morning, single-car crash in northeastern Minneapolis, police said.

Five teenagers who had apparently been at a sleepover were in the car when it crashed into a streetlight pole. The front passenger was dead at the scene, and the 17-year-old male driver of the car died later at Hennepin County Medical Center.

The three rear passengers, including a 13-year-old boy whose father owned the car, were injured and taken to Hennepin County Medical Center. Police said the boys, Lucas William Jarvi, 13, Andrew Dashan Cotton, 16, and Troy Wallace Sherer, 17, were medically stable.

Police have not confirmed the identity and age of the front passenger but said he was also a juvenile.

Minneapolis Police Sgt. William Palmer said speed and alcohol are suspected in the crash, which happened at 29th Avenue Northeast and McKinley Avenue Northeast.

"Those are probably going to be the defining factors in this accident," Palmer said. "We still, in this day in age, have youth who are engaged in underage drinking and driving and these are the consequences of those types of actions. And young people just aren't old enough and haven't had enough life experiences to understand that."

Bruce Jarvi said his 13-year-old son Lucas and some friends were at a sleepover at Jarvi's home, but he said he didn't see the teens drinking. Jarvi woke up to find his car and the teens gone.

Jarvi said Lucas was in the hospital with a broken leg. He hadn't talked to his son.

"The police officer told me that they hit that pole so hard that they just snapped it, drove it three feet into the ground and snapped the pole. They must have been going 70 - 80 miles an hour," Jarvi said.

Palmer said it will take investigators some time to determine how fast the car was going.

The police department's accident reconstructionist expects to have a report on the crash in a couple of weeks.

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