Woman who caused fatal buggy crash tried to blame twins, authorities say

A Minnesota woman whose SUV struck a horse-drawn carriage last fall, killing two children and injuring two others, tried to trick authorities into believing her twin sister was the driver, court documents show.

The woman, Samantha Petersen, 35, was charged Monday with 21 charges, including vehicular homicide, driving under the influence of drugs and leaving the scene of an accident in Stewartville, Minnesota. It was not immediately clear whether she was in custody or had legal representation. Neither she nor her sister could immediately be reached for comment Tuesday evening.

Ms. Petersen's statements indicate she had tried to mislead investigators to avoid going to jail. a complaint filed in Fillmore County District Court.

According to the complaint, on the morning of September 25, Ms. Petersen was driving a silver SUV on a rural road about 100 miles southeast of Minneapolis when she struck the buggy, causing it to fly into a ditch. Two children, 11 and 7, died from their injuries. According to the complaint, a 13-year-old boy suffered facial injuries and a 9-year-old boy suffered a broken shoulder, internal injuries, concussion and bleeding in his brain. The buggy's horse was also killed.

According to the documents, Samantha Petersen said she called 911 after the accident and then called her sister.

Eyewitnesses who had been driving on the road told sheriff's deputies that they stopped when they noticed the debris and injured children. One witness said he noticed two women, both with blond hair, who looked the same. One wore a black jacket, black leggings and sandals; the other, later revealed to be Samantha Petersen, the driver of the silver SUV, was wearing a red Hy-Vee supermarket uniform, sheriff's office footage later showed.

The woman in the black coat, Sarah Petersen, 35, identified herself to the deputy and claimed she had been driving the silver SUV. When asked for her driver's license, she said it was in a black SUV, not the silver SUV involved in the car. the crash, which set alarm bells ringing. During an interview in the officer's car, she said that while driving home from a night shift in Rochester, Minnesota, she didn't see the buggy on the road and hit it.

The deputy then exited the car, but his recorder — which was left on near Ms. Petersen — recorded her telling her twin sister that she believed one of the deputies was watching her, according to the complaint. “There's no way they'll ever know the difference between us,” she added, “so they can't know.”

But the false story quickly unraveled. An employee at Hy-Vee, where both sisters work, told investigators that the morning of the crash they received a hysterical phone call from Samantha Petersen, saying she was high on methamphetamine and had killed two Amish children.

She also sent a text message to another person admitting to killing the children, according to the complaint. She added, “had Sarah come there and take the blame so I wouldn't go to jail.” Public records show that Samantha Petersen has several prior convictions, including driving under the influence and giving a false name to law enforcement authorities.

Another Hy-Vee employee told investigators that Sarah Petersen, who had been in jail, may have taken responsibility for the crash out of the belief that she owed her sister for caring for her children in her absence.

A review of searches on Samantha Petersen's phone later revealed that she had searched: “What happens if you have an accident with an Amish buggy and kill two people,” and “if you hit a buggy and kill two people, are you going to jail? ?”

The Fillmore County Sheriff's Office and the Fillmore County Attorney could not be reached for comment Tuesday evening.