The Rosemount man who caused a fatal accident in Lakeville, then shed his clothes and took shelter in a nearby home has pleaded guilty to charges of criminal vehicular homicide and burglary.
Eric Kasprzyk, 49, entered the pleas May 11 in Dakota County Court. There will be a pre-sentencing investigation before he is sentenced at 9 a.m. Aug. 9.
According to a court document, Kasprzyk may have been driving as fast as 80 miles per hour when he ran a red light around 8:30 a.m. April 1 at the intersection of 160th Street and Cedar Avenue. He caused an accident that killed 45-year-old Osah Phetsarath of Lakeville.
Witnesses told police Kasprzyk then got out of his car, took off his clothes and ran north. A short time later, an Apple Valley resident called 911 to report that a naked man had run through her unlocked front door and shut himself in an upstairs closet in her townhome. The woman’s husband and their two children, ages 2 and 6, were also home at the time.
One of the homeowners had to break free of Kasprzyk’s grip to let police in when they arrived.
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Kasprzyk did not calm down once police arrived. He had to be sedated twice on the way to the hospital.
Kasprzyk admitted to police on April 2 that he had been the only one in his car, and that he had caused the accident. He said he used marijuana and cocaine but hadn’t taken either for a month or two before the crash.
Kasprzyk told police he didn’t know why he removed his clothes after the crash and said he didn’t remember anything from the time of the crash to when he woke up in the hospital.
“The defendant’s actions resulted in a senseless and avoidable death and caused extreme fear to a family in the home he invaded as he fled the scene of the crash,” county attorney James Backstrom said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Osah Phetsarath.”
