Rochester man charged with homicide in April crash that killed woman
Aug. 17—ROCHESTER — A Rochester man charged with criminal vehicular homicide related to an
April crash that killed a woman
appeared in Olmsted County District Court Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022.
Deng Tong Kwel, 20, was ordered by District Judge Lisa Hayne to not drive without a license or insurance, abstain from controlled substances and not leave the state without notifying the court.
Kwel was sent a summons July 14 to appear in court and has not been arrested or booked in jail.
Hayne cautioned Kwel that if he drove without a license or insurance, the court would consider that a "substantial violation" of his release conditions and he may be required to pay $20,000 bail or bond in order to stay out of jail.
His next court date is scheduled for Oct. 26, 2022.
According to the criminal complaint:
Kwel was traveling southbound on East Circle Drive Northeast in a silver 2006 Mitsubishi Galant April 11, 2022, when he lost control of his vehicle and hit another vehicle headed northbound, causing Tong's vehicle to roll multiple times.
A passenger in the other vehicle, a black Dodge Caravan, was declared deceased at the scene. She is not named in the complaint.
Multiple witnesses, dash cam footage and a forensic mapping of the scene showed that Kwel passed multiple vehicles and lost control of his vehicle, swerving back and forth before hitting the other vehicle. Law enforcement estimates Tong was traveling between 89 and 90 MPH.
Kwel told a Rochester Police Department investigator that the alignment on his car is bad and he had hit the edge of dirt in the median and he lost control when he tried to get his vehicle back on the road. Kwel told the investigator he wasn't aware that he hit another vehicle.
The investigator noted that Kwel's front tires did not show any uneven wear and the dealer who sold Kwel the vehicle had aligned it prior to the sale on Aug. 6, 2021.
