Advocacy & Safety - Driver turns self in in deadly Minneapolis hit and run

http://www.startribune.com/local/minneapolis/133750533.html

This hits close to home, I bike by this spot every time I go to work. The killer sounds like a piece of **** with an extensive criminal record, so at least the media prob won't portray him as a poor driver who just found himself at the wrong place at the wrong time.

It looks like the media is trying to spin it at least a little by pointing out that the killer's criminal history all occurred when he was younger. They're still looking for the criminal whose offenses all took place when he was older.

Since this is in A&S we need to start filling the speculation void. Anyone want to make a guess as to how the police got the plate number and why they don't want to let the public know how they got it? I'm going to go Orwellian and guess it was some sort of surveillance camera.

Anyone want to make a guess as to how the police got the plate number and why they don't want to let the public know how they got it? I'm going to go Orwellian and guess it was some sort of surveillance camera.Surveillance camera is a good bet.

When Honolulu put in traffic cameras on the highways and freeways to solely help traffic control, the government leaders swore they would never be used for surveillance. With APEC in town, the city has turned the cameras over to the secret service for surveillance.

Anyone want to make a guess as to how the police got the plate number and why they don't want to let the public know how they got it? I'm going to go Orwellian and guess it was some sort of surveillance camera.
My guess would be witnesses. The parkway that this happened on is incredibly popular with recreational cyclists, joggers, walkers, XC skiers, and everyone in-between. With the weather as nice as it was on Saturday morning i'm sure there were plenty of people around when this happened. Maybe the police are worried about witness intimidation?

Just a side note. I love how the newspaper was not sure about the sticker referring to a gun. The U.S. Army has never made an M18, and the M16 was made after soldiers in Vietnam kept reporting to commanders of constant problems with the M14 jamming. Which is how the M16 came into production.

So much for accuracy in journalism.

The driver turned himself in 9 hours later . . . after he sobered up.

Link to local cyclist discussion:mplsbikelove (http://mplsbikelove.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=22413&sid=b71d71974f6e3710f30193adf949ab21).

The pictures in that thread don't show it very well, but there are separate bike and pedestrian paths from the left that converge on the crosswalk (not uncommon here--state law is that bicycles in marked crosswalks have the same rights as pedestrians, namely, they have the right of way assuming they've given the cars a chance to stop). Those paths come down from Franklin, which goes over West River Road here. Folks who say they witnessed this accident say multiple cars had indeed stopped, and the suspect went around them and struck the cyclist, at a high rate of speed (speed limit on the parkway is 25 mph).

If it plays out as described, it's pretty cut and dried, imo. Suspect being held on high bail on felony charges.

RIP to the cyclist, and prayers for the family.

Let's see how the sentencing differs between this guy and Joe Senser's wife.