Charges: 'Playing chicken' led to crash that injured Faribault students

Two teenage cousins were "playing chicken" on a road in Faribault when their pickup trucks collided head-on in February, causing injury to themselves and three other teenagers, new criminal charges allege.

Beau Velishek, 18, of Faribault, had to be extricated from the driver's seat and airlifted to the hospital.

He's now facing three counts of criminal vehicular operation and one count of reckless driving in connection with the Feb. 10 crash, which injured all three teenage passengers in his vehicle.

Velishek's then-17-year-old cousin, who was behind the wheel of the other pickup truck, suffered minor injuries. About six months younger than Velishek, he's facing the same criminal charges in juvenile court.

The crash significantly impacted the local hockey community, with the Faribault High School boys hockey team confirming at the time that three players and one student from Bethlehem Academy were among the injured.

"They all sustained injuries, but we are so thankful nobody lost their life," the team shared in a Facebook post following the cancellation of the Feb. 10 game. "They have a long road to recovery so we ask for continued prayers."

The crash scene

The crash happened around 1:40 p.m. in the 1100 block of 9th Avenue Southwest, near Saint Luke's Church.

According to the criminal complaint, dispatchers were alerted by an iPhone crash alert.

The first officer on scene requested multiple ambulances and helicopters and found one critically-injured 17-year-old girl lying on the boulevard.

The officer found Velishek trapped inside his vehicle with a large, bloody gash on his face.

According to the complaint, Velishek appeared to be stunned by the incident and experiencing significant pain. He was screaming at times and couldn't answer questions related to the crash because he said he couldn't remember.

An officer was tending to Velishek when the other driver, Velishek's cousin, approached and began talking about the crash, the charges state.

"You know how we always swerve towards each other," the other driver allegedly said to Velishek. "We both went the same way."

'Playing chicken'

Police found two passengers from Velishek's vehicle, both 15-year-old boys, sitting in the nearby grass with bloody noses.

One boy told police they were going home from the Faribault Ice Arena to grab dress clothes when the crash happened.

The other boy, who suffered serious injuries including five broken bones, told officers he thought he had a concussion and couldn't remember details of the crash.

Later, in a phone interview with police, the boy recounted riding in Velishek's vehicle with his girlfriend when the crash happened.

According to the complaint, the boy told police they were southbound on 9th Avenue Southwest when he looked up and saw they were in the left lane.

He said Velishek's cousin was driving the other vehicle and Velishek swerved into the right lane and hit them head on, charges state.

The teen told police he later "heard from [Velishek's cousin] that they were playing chicken," the complaint reads.

Police also spoke to the other 15-year-old boy who was in Velishek's vehicle when the two drivers allegedly began playing chicken.

The teen, who suffered a neck fracture, said Velishek's cousin pulled into their lane on his left side and Velishek drove to the left. Velishek then tried to go back right assuming his cousin would go right as well, but that's when the vehicles collided head-on.

The witness said he blacked out after that and doesn't remember what happened, but said a friend of his who lives nearby came to the crash scene and Velishek's cousin admitted to him there that they were playing chicken.

Neither driver 'backed off'

According to the juvenile petition, the younger driver told investigators he and his cousin are very close.

"They saw each other and physically demonstrated jerking the steering wheel towards each other," the petition reads. "They both ended up going the same way and neither of them backed off."

According to the charges, a crash reconstruction determined the driving conduct of both drivers contributed to the crash.

While both vehicles were traveling the wrong way at some point before the crash, the crash ultimately occurred in the southbound lane, which led the Minnesota State Patrol investigator to conclude the younger driver was the "primary factor".

The younger driver was not seriously injured and only reported that he might've sprained his ankle, charges state.

Mobile phone application data indicates Velishek drove no faster than 46 miles-per-hour during the three-mile drive leading to the crash, charges state.