Man charged in fatal 2023 crash in St. Paul was driving triple the speed limit

Kyle Brown KSTP

A man who allegedly struck and killed a pedestrian last summer in St. Paul was driving more than three times the posted speed limit at the time of the crash, charging documents show.

Abdirahman Ali Hassan, 20, of St. Paul is charged with one count of criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the death of 31-year-old Tashawn Burks.

Abdirahman Ali Hassan (Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)

A criminal complaint alleges Hassan was driving eastbound on Concordia Avenue the night of July 11 after exiting from Interstate 94 at Dale Street and hit Burks, who was walking north across Concordia.

A witness who was stopped at the intersection told police Burks was halfway across the street when they heard a vehicle revving its engine. A white sedan then charged through the intersection, hitting Burks and sending him airborne, the complaint states. The sedan did not immediately stop.

Burks suffered significant injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Officers learned the suspect vehicle, a white Hyundai Sonata, was parked less than half a mile away. The driver, identified as Hassan, “was in a state of shock and had a blank stare on his face,” the complaint states, adding that he was “covered in glass and blood splatter.”

A blood draw indicated Hassan was sober at the time of the crash. However, the event data recorder within the Sonata confirmed the vehicle’s high speeds.

Five seconds before the crash, the EDR logged the Sonata’s speed at 62.8 mph; by the time of impact, the car had accelerated to 77.7 mph, more than triple the 25 mph speed limit on Concordia Avenue, according to the criminal complaint.

Dash camera footage from a car that was stopped at the intersection shows the light was yellow for about three seconds and red for another three seconds before the Sonata entered the camera’s field of view.

Police booked Hassan into custody the night of the crash, and he was initially held on suspicion of criminal vehicular operation. He was charged via summons on Monday and was released without bail.