Driver charged in Edina hit-and-run that injured high school student
Carlton Duke Troutman[Eaton County Jail]
A man has been arrested and charged in connection with a hit-and-run that left an Edina teen injured, police said.
The Edina Police Department said Carlton Duke Troutman, 26, of Flint, Michigan, was arrested in his home state in connection with the Jan. 23 incident. He has been charged with second-degree assault and is being held at the Eaton County Jail in Michigan.
According to a criminal complaint, around 8 a.m. on Jan. 23, Troutman took his friend’s car, along with two other passengers, and started driving aggressively. Troutman and the other passengers had slept in the car the night before.
Around 8:10 a.m., the vehicle struck 17-year-old Kyla Avant while she was boarding a school bus at France and Halifax avenues south in Edina.
Edina Police say the car drove around the bus on the right-hand shoulder of the road and partly on the sidewalk and struck Avant. According to a criminal complaint, the student forcefully hit the windshield and was thrown 50 feet as Troutman sped away from the site of the crash.
One of the passengers in the car received a call from the owner of the car after the hit-and-run and told him about the victim’s condition. According to the complaint, the owner then filed a false stolen vehicle report with the Minneapolis Police Department to protect Troutman from being linked to the incident.
Minneapolis Police officers picked the car owner up from his girlfriend’s house and drove him to where his car had been “stolen.” The owner then met up with Troutman and the two other passengers and drove to Mankato.
Edina Police were able to link the car used in the hit-and-run to the owner through interviews with eyewitnesses of the incident. The vehicle, a Chevrolet Malibu, was recovered on Jan. 28 in Mankato.
Both passengers were interviewed and confirmed that Troutman was driving at the time of the hit-and-run. Troutman later contacted the Edina Police Department and admitted to being in the vehicle, but he said he could not recall the crash.
Troutman was arrested on March 13 in Eaton County, Michigan, while driving under the influence. He is awaiting extradition to Minnesota to face the criminal charge.