Snapchatting teen driver charged with vehicular homicide in death of bicyclist
Published 8:17 am Friday, October 6, 2017
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BELLE PLAINE, Minn. — A teenage driver here was distracted by texting on her cell phone and fatally striking a bicyclist in June on a state highway outside this southern Minnesota community, court records disclosed.
Paige Elizabeth Narveson, 16, of Belle Plaine, was charged last week in Le Sueur County juvenile court with felony criminal vehicular homicide and gross misdemeanor reckless driving.
Narveson struck bicyclist Phillip Ilg, 56, of New Prague, Minnesota, on State Highway 25 in rural Le Sueur County the morning of June 17. Ilg died at the scene. Narveson was not injured.
A witness said Ilg was riding on the gravel shoulder and Narveson swerved off the road and struck him, according to the criminal complaint. The Minnesota State Patrol report on the collision affirmed the details.
Narveson told authorities she was looking down at driving directions when she struck the bicyclist.
But her cell phone data showed she was on Snapchat. Authorities said she sent and received multiple messages at approximately the same time of the crash. The last message was received less than a minute before Narveson called 911, according to the police report.
The complaint said Narveson had a provisional license, which prohibits drivers from using a cell phone in any manner.
Details for this story were provided by the Mankato, Minnesota, Free Press.