Mendota Heights Man Charged in Connection with Motorcycle Crash

A Mendota Heights man has been charged in connection with a 2009 motorcycle crash that injured his passenger.

Josephus Edward Burke, 40, is charged with two counts of criminal vehicular operation, two counts of third-degree DWI and one count of reckless driving.

According to the criminal complaint, a motorcycle crash was reported to just before 8 p.m. Oct. 18, 2009, on Marie Avenue near Eagle Ridge Road.

The caller reported that the female passenger on the motorcycle was injured and semi-conscious; the caller said she had stood up, but seemed “out of it.”

The officer who responded found two men and two women standing around the motorcycle, along with a “significant puddle of blood” on the ground and a long set of scrape marks in the vicinity.

The female passenger was “bleeding badly” from a cut on her head, the complaint says.

Burke was repeatedly telling her, “You’re OK, you’re fine” as the officer arrived, at which point he began telling the officer, “We’re fine, really. We’re OK,” the report says.

Burke’s speech was slurred, his eyes were watery and bloodshot and the officer could smell a strong odor of alcohol on his breath, according to the complaint. The officer asked how much he had drunk, and Burke repeatedly answered, “None,” the complaint says.

Burke eventually admitted to having “a few drinks” and told the officer that he hit the curb and lost control of his motorcycle. A subsequent test showed that his blood-alcohol content was .181.

Witnesses told police that after the crash, the passenger ended up face-down on the ground, and they found Burke standing over her, telling her to get up and advising her that they needed to “get out of there,” according to the complaint.

One witness told police that Burke seemed “very anxious to leave” and was in “an awful hurry to get out of there.” Burke tried to start the motorcycle so he could leave the scene, the witnesses told police, but when he heard sirens and saw emergency lights approaching, he climbed off.

The woman's medical records showed that she was unconscious immediately after the crash and that she suffered a scalp wound measuring 1.5 inches, which was closed with seven staples.

Burke’s criminal history includes a DWI conviction in 2002. He is scheduled to make a first appearance on the motorcycle crash charges Sept. 19 in Dakota County District Court in Hastings.