Charges: Driver in fatal hit-and-run was drunk, ran stop sign
A Minneapolis man has been charged in a fatal Thursday hit-and-run that killed a man who was crossing the street.
Henry Lee Brown, 54, was charged with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide, one for driving while intoxicated and one for leaving the scene of an accident, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office announced Monday.
According to the criminal complaint, Jerry L. Johnson, 49, was crossing the street at 30th and Morgan Avenues North in Minneapolis at around 5:40 p.m. when he was struck by a white Ford SUV.
The SUV drove away as Johnson lay in the street, according to witnesses. Johnson was pronounced dead on the scene.
Surveillance footage recovered by investigators showed the road and visibility were good and that the SUV had room to miss Johnson. The SUV continued after hitting Johnson and ran a stop sign.
After passing the intersection and seeing someone laying in the street, a woman who lived near the area came home and found her boyfriend, Brown, sitting in his SUV intoxicated. Brown told her he hit something with his car.
The woman called the police after seeing news reports of the hit-and-run. Brown told investigators he was drunk but does not remember the incident and did not mean for it to happen.
Brown will make his first court appearance Tuesday.
