SUV Drops Off Minn. Exit Ramp and Onto Car Below

April 01--The vehicle came out of nowhere -- it dropped off an exit ramp and on top of Jennifer Beardsley's car on Interstate 94 in St. Paul.

"His car landed on the top of my hood and the roof of the passenger side," said Beardsley, who was alone in her car. She recounted Monday what happened in the Saturday crash that left the other driver, Eric M. Fuentes, critically injured.

"When his car first landed on my car, I didn't know what was happening," Beardsley said. "I thought, 'This isn't real.' The car started crushing in on me and I was feeling the impact of it bouncing on me. I didn't really comprehend what had happened. I obviously hadn't seen any car coming toward me like any normal car crash."

Beardsley, 37, was scratched and bruised, but has no broken bones.

The Minnesota State Patrol is investigating what happened. Fuentes, 38, of St. Paul, was driving a Ford Explorer on the ramp from Fifth Street to westbound I-94, the State Patrol said.

Fuentes' sport-utility vehicle went off the ramp and landed on Beardsley's Kia Sportage, which was traveling on eastbound I-94 from Marion Street at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday, the State Patrol said.

The roads were dry and both drivers were wearing seatbelts, the State Patrol said. No alcohol was detected in Fuentes' system at the time, said Lt. Eric Roeske, State Patrol spokesman.

"We're still trying to determine why he went off the road in the manner that he did," Roeske said. "He was seriously injured, so we were not able to speak with him or get his side of it."

Beardsley said she is also wondering what caused Fuentes to crash and how he is doing.

Beardsley moved to downtown St. Paul from Minneapolis in December, and is still getting the lay of the land. She was running errands Saturday, but got turned around.

"I wasn't supposed to be there," she said of where the accident happened. "I had just found a way back on the freeway. There were no cars around me. It was a quiet night on the roads."

Because she'd just entered the highway, Beardsley estimated she was driving about 40 mph when Fuentes' SUV hit hers without warning.

"It all happened so fast," Beardsley said. "I know I did slam on the brakes. I couldn't see where I was going because my windshield was shattered. When he hit my car, his car rolled off me and continued to roll behind my car."

Beardsley said she was trapped in her car at first because it was so crushed around her. She worked to get her car door open and, when she did, first responders had already arrived.

Beardsley, who said she recently got her EMT certification and is in school studying respiratory therapy, said she was in shock but feeling the adrenaline flow.

"I offered to help, but they (the first responders) preferred that I went and sat down," said Beardsley, who is looking for a job as an EMT.

Fuentes was unconscious in his vehicle, which was upside down, Beardsley said.

"The police thought it was a normal crash and I said, 'No, he came from up top,' " she said. "They found the skid marks where he would have come from."

Beardsley was taken to Regions Hospital by ambulance, where she had X-rays and a CT scan. She said she was told she should spend the next few days resting and follow up with a doctor because an abnormality was noted with her cervical spine from the accident.

"I'm feeling OK," said Beardsley, whose car was totaled. "I'm really, really sore from being thrown around a lot. ... I'm still trying to piece it all together. I know I'm very lucky but it still doesn't seem real to me."

Mara H. Gottfried can be reached at 651-228-5262. Follow her at twitter.com/MaraGottfried.

Copyright 2014 - Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.