Police halt pursuit; teen suspect smashes into car headed for Sunday school
TwinCities.com
By Nick Ferraro
[email protected]
Monday, April 07, 2008
The boy, who ran from the crash scene at Lake Street and Stevens Avenue and was arrested inside a Kmart store, likely will face several felony charges, including criminal vehicular homicide, Minneapolis police Sgt. William Palmer said.
Police pursued the suspect's car for about a mile and a half before the chase was called off near Lake Street and Chicago Avenue because of concern for the public's safety, Palmer said. The crash happened about a half-mile down the street.
"This was a very quick incident," he said.
The Hennepin County medical examiner's office identified the victim as 26-year-old Hanna Abukar, of Minneapolis.
Omar Jamal, of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center, spent Sunday consoling Abukar's husband and friends. He said Abukar had been driving her 6-year-old son and a 13-year-old neighborhood boy to Sunday school when the incident occurred.
"She was a good wife, mother and member of the community," Jamal said. "It's a tragic loss."
Jamal said Abukar's son is listed in critical condition. The neighbor boy suffered less serious injuries.
According to police, officers tried to stop the suspect for a traffic violation near 31st Street and Longfellow Avenue South just after 8 a.m. But instead of stopping, the boy sped up.
Officers began chasing the car and were told by a dispatcher it had been reported stolen in Minneapolis. The chase continued on Lake Street, near 21st Avenue South.
After the boy accelerated to a high rate of speed, a patrol sergeant called off the chase.
"One of the big things the supervisor has to look at is the totality of circumstances," Palmer said. "This was not 3 in the morning on a freeway, but along a busy street."
Officers saw the stolen Buick continue west on Lake Street and then a "cloud of debris," Palmer said, at the Stevens Avenue intersection near Interstate 35W.
Abukar was pronounced dead at the scene.
After being caught at Kmart, the boy was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center and treated for minor injuries. The two children in Abukar's car also were taken to HCMC.
"This is a horrible tragedy all the way around," Palmer said. "A woman has died, two kids are injured, and we have a young man who is 15 and looking at serious criminal charges. We feel for all the families involved."
Palmer said the police department's traffic, homicide and internal affairs units are conducting concurrent investigations.
The five officers involved in the pursuit are on administrative leave, in keeping with department policy on critical incidents.
Across the country, about 300 people die each year in police chases, according to a 2004 study. About one-third of them are people not involved in the pursuit.
Nancy Ngo contributed to this report. Nick Ferraro can be reached at 651-228-2173.
Source: TwineCities.com, April 07, 2008