Crime & Safety

Charges: Daredevil Tore through Fridley in Loaner Lamborghini, Late for a Date with a Tree

Fridley officer and tow truck driver on separate DWI stop saw 2007 Gallardo hurtle down University Avenue 'at a high rate of speed.' David Juntunen got away, but his day was about to get a lot worse.

Life would be simpler for David Norman Juntunen if a Fridley police officer  had been free last March to pull over the Lamborghini he was driving "at a high rate of speed."

Juntunen, who has BASE-jumped off the Foshay Tower in downtown Minneapolis (see YouTube clip), could be forgiven for wishing a parachute had slowed the 2007 Gallardo for a mere speeding ticket—before he careened into three trees and two light poles in northeast Minneapolis, according to a criminal complaint (see PDF thumbnail).

But the officer was busy with a separate situation that started at 1:30 a.m., as logged in the Fridley Police Department's incident log:

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While on patrol, I observed a vehicle displaying poor driving conduct in the 7400 Block of University Ave NE. A traffic stop was conducted, I made contact with the driver who subsequently failed SFST's, arrested and transported to Anoka County Jail. 

A tow truck driver at the scene in Fridley to transport the DWI vehicle got enough of the Lamborghini's plate number for police to match the vehicle that took out trees and poles at B.F. Nelson Park in northeast Minneapolis about a quarter hour later.

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According to the complaint, that's when things got complicated for Juntunen, who had been entrusted with the Lamborghini's care while the owner was away for the winter. After the crash, he tried to collect on insurance from his business, Top Gear Autoworks. Now he faces two felony charges, for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and insurance fraud. 

Juntunen's first court appearance is set for Monday, according to the Star Tribune.


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