Authorities identify pedestrian killed in Brooklyn Park hit-and-run
[KSTP/ Chris Knoll]
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner has identified the woman killed in a hit-and-run crash involving a school bus in Brooklyn Park as 45-year-old Devon Lizbeth Doherty.
Brooklyn Park police said officers were called to a spot near the intersection of Humboldt Avenue and Meadowwood Drive at about 6:49 a.m. Monday after a body was found on a street.
After responding, police found Doherty, who appeared to have been struck by a vehicle. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Jason Rynders, 33, of Maple Grove, has been charged with criminal vehicular homicide in connection to the incident.
School bus driver charged in fatal Brooklyn Park hit-and-run
According to a criminal complaint, a man was driving to work on Humboldt Avenue Monday morning when he saw a school bus stopped on the side of the road and then felt his car hit something. The man got out of his vehicle and realized he’d hit a person, and, seeing the bus driver standing outside, yelled at the bus driver to call 911. Instead, the bus driver, later identified as Rynders, got back in the bus and drove off, so the other man called 911.
The complaint states a preliminary examination of the scene indicated Doherty was hit by the front of the school bus and then again by the front axle, rear tires or both.
One homeowner in the area had a surveillance video that captured the collision and showed the bus turning west before the collision with the victim occurred. The video also confirmed what the man who called 911 reported regarding Rynders getting out of the bus before getting back in and driving away. The complaint also notes the bus appeared to be occupied by four or five children.
Officers later tracked down Rynders, a driver and trainer for the NorthStar bus company. The complaint states he told police he heard a noise and got out of the bus but didn’t think he hit anyone.