Update: The driver has been charged with criminal vehicular manslaughter

A man with a prior DWI-related conviction has been arrested in connection with a car-bus collision in St. Paul Friday that left a Metro Transit passenger dead, police said.

The car — traveling perhaps 70 mph down a residential street — smashed completely through the bus in the city’s Frogtown neighborhood Friday evening, leaving a scene that St. Paul police spokesman Steve Linders called “horrific and surreal.”

Tyler Randall Bjelland, 26 of Minneapolis, was arrested on suspicion of criminal vehicular homicide, police said Saturday.

Bjelland suffered apparent leg injuries and remained hospitalized Saturday morning after being extricated from the vehicle, Linders said. Bjelland will be tested for drugs and alcohol, he said.

In December 2016, Bjelland was convicted of third-degree DWI – refusal to submit to a chemical test. In June 2017, he was convicted of disorderly conduct- brawling or fighting, according to court records.

A 48-year-old man was killed and another was critically injured when a car fleeing a hit-and-run collision smashed through the bus about 7:30 p.m.

Witnesses say the car was speeding eastbound on Charles Avenue when it struck the median at Dale Street and went airborne, smashing into and through the bus.

“We’re all shocked by it,” Linders said. “I talked to investigators who have worked 20 to 30 years on patrol, and they’ve never seen anything like this before.”

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Therapy dog-in training stolen in St. Paul found, reunited with owners Investigators said the passenger who died was a 48-year-old man, who was ejected from the bus from the impact. He died at the scene. On Saturday evening, police identified him as Kenneth J. Foster of Minneapolis.

Another of the passengers, a 19-year-old man, Markus Anthony Dashawn Jackson, was critically injured and taken to Regions Hospital in St. Paul. He underwent surgery late Friday night and remained in critical condition Sunday afternoon, according to hospital officials.

There were about six to eight passengers on the bus — Route 65 — when the accident occurred.

The driver of the car was fleeing another collision at Victoria and Charles when the crash occurred, Linders said. The car was traveling about 70 mph down the residential street when it struck the bus.

The car, a white sedan, caught fire after the crash and could be seen smoldering afterward.

Mercedes Berry, 17, of St. Paul, was walking to the nearby Speedy Dale convenience store to buy cheese popcorn when she saw and heard the car racing eastbound on Charles.

“It came zooming past,” she said. “It hit the median, flew into the air and hit the bus. It went through the bus — right through the bus — and flipped.”

Berry said she felt bad for the bus passenger who died.

“He was going home and was going to see his family and stuff, and now he won’t see his family no more,” she said.

Metro Transit spokesman Howie Padilla said officials were “shocked” by the extent of damage.

“I’ve talked to people today with decades of experience, and they have seen nothing like this as far as damage to a vehicle — both sides of it,” Padilla said. “Just to see the scene itself is shocking.”

“We take a lot of pride in getting people safely from A to B, and we do that millions and millions of times so that when something like this does happen, it really shakes all of us to the core,” Padilla said.

The bus driver was not hurt, Padilla said. “Our hearts and thoughts are certainly with the passenger who was riding with us and his family. He’s got family, friends and loved ones who are going to be missing him a lot.”

Police had the area blocked off late Friday as onlookers gathered.

SPPD investigating fatal crash involving a MTC bus and a vehicle at intersection of Dale Street and Charles Avenue. Updates when info avail. — Saint Paul Police Department (@sppdmn) July 22, 2017

Car smashed into MTC bus at Dale and Charles. pic.twitter.com/rkueFzLGrc — Mary Divine (@MaryEDivine) July 22, 2017

As passersby came upon the scene, they audibly gasped as they surveyed the damage.

“It’s messed up,” said Retha Ginn, who had been down the block visiting family when she heard the commotion. “It’s crazy and sad.”