St. Paul driver was going 77 mph when he struck and killed pedestrian, charges say

Nick Ferraro, Pioneer Press
·2 min read

A motorist was driving more than three times the speed limit when he struck and killed a man in St. Paul’s Summit-University neighborhood last summer, according to charges filed this week.

Abdirahman Ali Hassan, 20, of St. Paul, continually increased his speed after exiting Interstate 94 and up to when he hit 31-year-old Tashawn Burks, who was walking across Concordia Avenue at Dale Street around 9:45 p.m. July 11, the charges say. Burks, of St. Paul, died at the scene.

Hassan left the scene, but soon stopped. He was booked on suspicion of criminal vehicular operation at the time but released pending further investigation. He was charged Monday with criminal vehicular homicide for operating a vehicle in a grossly negligent manner and causing death.

Witnesses told officers that a white car drove through the intersection heading east on Concordia Avenue at a high rate of speed.

One witness said they were stopped at a red light heading south on Dale Street and that Burks was walking north against the traffic light, according to the criminal complaint. Burks was halfway across Concordia Avenue when the witness heard a vehicle’s engine rev up and then saw a white sedan hit Burks, who went airborne. The driver did not stop.

While officers were securing the scene they learned the driver had stopped less than a mile away at Carroll Avenue and Arundel Street. Officers located a white Hyundai Sonata with heavy front-end damage and a damaged windshield. The driver, identified as Hassan, was in a “state of shock and had a blank stare on his face,” the complaint says, adding that he was “covered in glass and blood splatter.”

Hassan’s mother identified her son to police “since he was unable to talk at that time” and said he had called her crying and in shock and that she met him there, the complaint says. Hassan was transported to a hospital and later declined to speak to police about the crash.

A blood draw showed that Hassan did not have alcohol or drugs in his system.

Investigators obtained a search warrant and removed the Sonata’s electronic data recorder for crash analysis. It showed Hassan’s speed continually increased after he got off I-94 and “unsuccessfully tried to make a green light at the intersection” and hit Burks, the complaint says. The complaint does clearly state who had the right of way at the time of the crash.

The data showed the car’s speed was 62.8 mph five seconds before the crash and 77.7 mph at the time of impact. The speed limit on Concordia Avenue is 25 mph.

Court records show Hassan was convicted of speeding a month before the fatal crash. In March, New Brighton police clocked him driving 90 mph in a 60 mph zone on the entrance ramp to Interstate 694 from Silver Lake Road, according to a citation.

Related Articles