ST. PAUL -- A St. Paul man has been charged with two felony counts of criminal vehicular homicide after his girlfriend fell from his motorcycle and died last fall on Interstate 35 in Forest Lake.
Myles W. Eckman, 24, was charged in Washington County District Court with negligent driving while under the influence of alcohol and a controlled substance and leaving the scene of an accident.
According to the criminal complaint filed April 28, troopers from the Minnesota State Patrol received a report in the early-morning hours of Nov. 18 of a fatal accident near the Minnesota 97 interchange in Forest Lake. Troopers responding to the call at 4:43 a.m. found a woman, Ena M. Bhatia, 21, of St. Paul, lying face down on the right shoulder of the highway. Bhatia had head trauma, and “there was blood on the right lane of traffic away from where her body was found,” the complaint states. No vehicle or motorcycle were found nearby.
About four hours later, a trooper was asked to call Eckman’s father. Eckman’s father told officers that his son and his girlfriend had left his house earlier that morning on his motorcycle going north toward Forest Lake. He said he had heard about the fatal crash and was worried about their safety. According to the complaint, traffic cameras on Interstate 35 showed a rider falling off the back of a motorcycle at 4:38 a.m. At 4:41 a.m., the driver can be seen circling back to the scene and “then leaving a short time later, exiting I-35 at (Highway) 2 in Forest Lake,” the complaint states.
Just before 10 a.m., the Anoka County sheriff’s office received a report of someone attempting to push a motorcycle into a pond in Columbus. Eckman was found inside a nearby pole barn. While being taken into custody, he “asked if his girlfriend was OK,” the complaint states.
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Eckman told officers he had been drinking the previous night at a bar in St. Paul and had a “double shot of tequila before he left the bar at 1:30 a.m.,” the complaint states.
According to the complaint, officers could “smell an odor of alcohol on him, his speech was slurred, his pupils were constricted, he had a burnt lip, his tongue had heat bumps and he had cotton mouth.”
Officers obtained a warrant to test Eckman’s blood. The draw tested positive for a number of drugs, including THC - an active ingredient in marijuana - and methamphetamine, the complaint states.
Eckman made his first appearance in court on May 1. His next hearing will be May 22. If convicted, Eckman could face a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail and $20,000 fine on each count.
