Charge: Driver going 77 mph ran red light, fatally hit man crossing St. Paul street and kept going
A driver was speeding through a red light at more than 75 mph in a 25 mph zone last summer when he fatally hit a man crossing the street and kept on going, according to a criminal complaint.
Abdirahman A. Hassan, 20, of St. Paul, was charged Tuesday in Ramsey County District Court in connection with the crash July 11 that killed 31-year-old Tashawn Burks, also of St. Paul.
Hassan was charged by summons and is due in court May 16. Court records do not list an attorney for him, and contact information was not immediately available.
Court records show that four months earlier a state trooper clocked Hassan at 90 mph on Interstate 694 in New Brighton. He was ticketed and convicted of driving 75 mph.
According to the complaint for the July 11 incident:
Officers arrived at the intersection of Concordia Avenue and Dale Street, where Burks was pronounced dead.
One driver waiting on southbound Dale at the red light saw Burks walking north against the light. When Burks was halfway through the intersection, the driver heard a vehicle's engine rev, then saw a speeding car hit Burks. The heavily damaged car stopped within a half-mile. Hassan, in a state of shock, was taken by medics to a hospital.
Hassan later declined to speak with police. A law enforcement test of his blood revealed no evidence of impairment from drugs or alcohol.
A Tesla's camera recorded that the light had been red for Hassan for more than three seconds before he entered the intersection and hit Burks.
A law enforcement analysis of his car's electronic data recorder revealed that Hassan's "speed continually increased ... as he approached the intersection as he unsuccessfully tried to make a green light at the intersection" and topped out at 77 mph, the complaint noted.
