He sped, and someone died. Then, he sped some more.

Anthony Mancheski (Courtesy of Ramsey County jail.)

A Maplewood man accused of causing a four-car accident in 2010 that killed a soldier doesn't appear to have eased off the gas pedal in the past year.

Anthony Lloyd Mancheski's latest run-in with police came Sept. 11, when he allegedly ran over a stop sign and crashed into a stand of trees in Maplewood. Mancheski was booked on suspicion of underage drinking and drunken driving.

The arrest came a little more than two weeks after Mancheski was charged in Washington County District Court with criminal vehicular homicide in the May 3, 2010, fatal crash on U.S. 61 just north of the Mississippi River bridge in Hastings.

Investigators said Mancheski, 20, caused the crash because he was driving almost 90 mph and aggressively passing other motorists, which caused him to lose control of his BMW. He hit two vehicles while crossing into oncoming traffic, where his car collided with a semitrailer.

The 6:30 a.m. collision mangled a Saturn sedan and instantly killed its driver, Brian J. Jacobson, 34, of Lake City. Jacobson was a 1993 graduate of Red Wing High School and a member of the Minnesota National Guard. He served two tours in Iraq as part of the 434th Chemical Co.

Mancheski and the others involved suffered minor injuries. His first appearance in Washington County court is today.

About three weeks after the fatal crash, Mancheski was ticketed by Cottage Grove police for driving 85 mph in a 65-mph zone. In December, Oakdale police cited him for speeding. And the

day after the one-year anniversary of the fatal crash, Mancheski was stopped by Newport police for driving 80 mph in a 60-mph zone.

Three weeks later, Mancheski was issued a misdemeanor careless-driving citation for the fatal crash on U.S. 61.

But a few weeks later, the Washington County Attorney's Office asked to have the careless-driving citation dismissed - in favor of the more serious charge.

"It came to my attention when the deceased's widow was upset, and that's when I looked into it," County Attorney Pete Orput said. After a review, Orput and two other top attorneys decided to charge Mancheski with a felony.

"We thought this was an important enough case where the jury needs to decide whether this gentleman is guilty or not," Orput said.

Orput said charging cases like this is difficult because there are just two options: issue a misdemeanor ticket or try to prove to a jury that the driver was grossly negligent.

"There's nothing in between. There's a chasm there," he said.

He said others have tried to change the law to add a gross misdemeanor driving charge, but without success.

The prosecutor handling the case, Imran Ali, said Mancheski's record could play a role in a trial, but it would be up to the court whether that evidence is allowed and then up to the jury to determine whether it's relevant.

"After an independent review of the case, we thought there was enough evidence, regardless of his history, to bring charges and show gross negligence," Ali said.

Mancheski declined Wednesday to comment on his driving record and the speeding tickets.

But he questioned the criminal vehicular homicide charge in the fatal accident.

"I'm feeling it's pretty blown out of proportion," he said. "I feel like the court system is just trying to put the blame on someone....But it doesn't make sense to put the blame on someone for something so minor; it was just a car accident."

His attorney, Shawn Betts, said Wednesday that the driving record probably won't play much of a role and the tickets likely won't be admissible because they're misdemeanors. The court case will center instead on his behavior at the time of the accident.

"I don't think there was any question that there was no intent for this to happen," Betts said. "The issue is whether he was speeding."

The maximum statutory penalty for the crime is 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine, though Mancheski would likely face a maximum sentence of 48 months if convicted by a jury, Betts said.

Even so, the defense attorney said he and his client will discuss plea agreements with the prosecution to further shorten that.

"He's certainly remorseful about what happened," Betts said.

After the crash and Jacobson's death, there was an outcry over the safety of that stretch of U.S. 61. The speed limit is 65, and 60 as the southbound road nears Hastings. But just before the bridge, the road narrows to one lane each direction, creating a bottleneck.

Citing six deaths in five years, Hastings officials said something needed to be done.

"Enough is enough," council member Joe Balsanek said at the time. "If these were fender-benders, that's different. But when you have people dying at the rate we have, we need to do something now."

Balsanek wanted to see gradually reduced speed limits on the approach to the bridge, giving motorists a few miles to slow down. He said the Minnesota Department of Transportation looked into it and posted the speed limit as 40 mph at the bridge, which is now a construction zone. But he'd like to see more.

"What I was told was when the bridge is completed, they would reassess the speed limit," Balsanek said Tuesday, noting that the new bridge, which will have more lanes, will play a big role in increased safety.

MnDOT spokesman J.P. Gillach said his agency did what it thought was appropriate, but no quick fix is available.

"Most crashes in that area have been due to driver behavior, so there's only so much we can do engineering-wise," he said.

Elizabeth Mohr can be reached at 651-228-5162.