Charges: Woman was high on meth, may have purposely caused fatal crash

A woman has been charged in connection with a fatal Golden Valley crash on May 30.

Sara Anne Persons, 40, faces one count of first-degree manslaughter and two counts of criminal vehicular manslaughter.

Authorities responded to a crash on Duluth Street near Highway 100 in Golden Valley on May 30. They found a Ford pickup truck and a Chevy Trailblazer, and believed the driver of the Chevy had sideswiped the Ford.

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Authorities found a man lying on the ground with severe injuries, including a “severe laceration” to his abdomen, according to the criminal complaint. He was brought to the hospital, where he was pronounced deceased. He was identified by family members as Michael Lawver.

There were two others at the scene: Persons and a man who claimed to be her boyfriend. The man said he, Persons, and Lawver were all meth users, but didn’t say whether they used meth that night.

Lawver was driving the Ford, and the man was a passenger, he told police. Persons was driving the Chevy. He claimed that the three were on their way to pick up Lawver’s vehicle when Lawver began driving erratically.

The man said Persons’ vehicle pulled alongside them, and Lawver swerved toward her, causing her to swerve and hit the median, before taking the exit and turning onto Duluth Street. He added that he grabbed the steering wheel from Lawver and forced him to stop when Persons crashed into them.

According to court documents, Persons told investigators that they were driving on Highway 100 when Lawver swerved at her, causing her to hit the median. She added that when they exited onto Duluth Street, Lawver got out of the truck, and she crashed into the truck.

While conducting a crash reconstruction, State Patrol investigators noted marks from the Chevy on the road. Court documents state that the marks showed that after hitting the median, the Chevy appeared to make a smooth trajectory from the road into the vehicle that Lawver was driving.

The Ford was on the sidewalk and not in the road, and prosecutors say that the markings didn’t show any signs of Persons trying to avoid the crash.

After the crash, Lawver was dragged 43 feet before Persons stopped and backed up.

Based on the Ford being on the sidewalk and the trajectory of the Chevy, investigators believed Persons intentionally drove toward the Ford and hit Lawver.

Officers arrested Persons and found a substance that tested positive for methamphetamine in her purse. Court documents state that Persons’ blood tested positive for both amphetamine and methamphetamine after the crash.
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