The driver of the car in which an Austin teen-ager died in a Jan.

Thursday, March 09, 2000

The driver of the car in which an Austin teen-ager died in a Jan. 31 accident faces two felony counts.

Mower County Attorney Patrick A. Oman’s deputy prosecutor, Jonathan Olson, filed charges Monday in Mower County Third Judicial District Court against Sandra Salinas, 16, of Austin.

Salinas was charged by complaint summons with one count of criminal vehicular operation resulting in death and one count of criminal vehicular operation resulting in bodily injury.

No court appearance has been set.

Salinas was driving a 1987 Ford Tempo on Jan. 31 in Austin. The car was northbound on Fourth Street SE traveling over the so-called Roosevelt Street bridge over the Cedar River near the Whittier Place townhomes.

According to a Minnesota State Patrol accident reconstruction specialist, the vehicle was traveling in excess of 60 mph when it ascended the roadway leading to the apex of the bridge.

The vehicle went out of control, when it reached the other side, landing on its left front wheel and careening into a nearby utility pole where it "horse-shoed" around the pole, according to investigators.

The driver was seriously injured as well as a rear-seat passenger, Taylor Wytaske, 13, of rural Austin.

Pronounced dead at the scene was a front-seat passenger, Jill A. Bos, 16 of Austin.

Austin police and state patrol investigators concluded the car apparently was attempting a "bridge flying" stunt.

Salinas and Wytaske are recovering from their injuries in the accident after being hospitalized for lengthy stays.

The fatality was the first in the city and all of Mower County this year.