MINNEAPOLIS — Authorities have identified the two women killed in a crash with a fleeing carjacking suspect Thursday morning as 25-year-old Marisa Casebolt and 25-year-old Liberty Borg, both of Minneapolis.
The Minnesota State Patrol said the deadly crash occurred around 8:40 a.m. at the intersection of Olson Memorial Highway and Penn Avenue. Casebolt and Borg were traveling westbound in a Ford Fusion when a 45-year-old St. Paul man, driving a stolen Volkswagen Passat, sped through the intersection on northbound Penn and t-boned their vehicle.
Both women, who were wearing seat belts, died at the scene. A six-year-old boy riding in the back seat was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center. Authorities initially described his injuries as life-threatening, but Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara later said the child is expected to survive.
The crash capped a chaotic morning of reckless driving and violence by the suspect. According to police, he was first seen on East Lake Street, where he crashed a maroon Ford Explorer after reports of reckless driving. He then carjacked a woman at gunpoint, fired shots as he fled, and bizarrely returned to retrieve three dogs from the wrecked Explorer before continuing to drive dangerously through downtown Minneapolis.
Officers located him on the city’s Northside, where a pursuit began and ended with the fatal collision at Penn and Olson.
“This is an outcome we never want – a devastating incident with very heartbreaking and permanent consequences,” Chief O’Hara said. “A gunman drove recklessly throughout the city, at excessive speeds and even onto sidewalks, carjacking a woman and firing shots on a crowded city street, jeopardizing human life. This criminal put countless lives at risk, and this is exactly why we take violent crime so seriously.”
Friends, family, and community members have since taken to social media to pay tribute to Casebolt and Borg, remembering them for their lives rather than the tragic circumstances of their deaths.
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