A truck driver told a trooper he was looking at a map and a GPS unit when ran a stop sign and crashed into another vehicle in Washington County, after which the other driver died, according to a search warrant affidavit.
Shane Joseph Loughney, 48, was taken to Regions Hospital with life-threatening injuries following the collision last Wednesday and died at the hospital on Saturday.
State Patrol troopers responded about 1:50 p.m. to Denmark Township. Investigation showed a 27-year-old man was driving a semitrailer northbound on Minnesota 95 “at highway speeds,” the affidavit said.
Loughney was eastbound on 70th Street, stopped at a stop sign and began turning left onto Minnesota 95. The semi T-boned his pickup in the intersection. The collision pushed both vehicles into another pickup.
The semi’s driver told a State Patrol sergeant he was “at fault for the crash,” the affidavit said. He said he’d “been looking at a combination of maps on his phone and a separate GPS unit which distracted him from seeing the stop signs.”
The warrant, approved by a judge and filed in court Monday, was for a forensic search of the driver’s phone.
The Washington County Attorney’s Office had not received a case to review for charges as of Tuesday.
Loughney was from Woodville in St. Croix County, Wisconsin.
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