The family of a man killed early Monday in a traffic collision said he would still be alive if a State Patrol trooper hadn't chosen to chase a drunken-driving suspect through downtown Minneapolis streets.
Brody A. Sotona, 20, a budding musician from Wisconsin, died when his vehicle was T-boned by a driver fleeing the State Patrol. His passenger was critically hurt.
The State Patrol said the chase underscores the perilous nature of law-enforcement efforts to stop drunken drivers.
"Drunk drivers kill over 100 people a year [in Minnesota]," Lt. Eric Roeske said at a news conference. "Do you just let him go or do you try to stop him?"
That decision fell to a State Patrol trooper who stopped driver Yia Her, 34, of St. Paul, on westbound Interstate 94 in downtown Minneapolis shortly before 1 a.m. Monday.
The State Patrol said Her, who was driving on a suspended license, took off when the trooper pulled him over and led the trooper on a three-minute chase through downtown. Her was hospitalized with noncritical injuries. Sotona, who grew up in Spring Valley, Wis., died about 1 a.m. His passenger, Connor W. Macklin, 24, of Stillwater, was in critical condition Monday.
In a written statement issued about 13 hours after Sotona was killed, his family challenged the State Patrol's decision to pursue Her.
"The family would like to know why the Minnesota State Trooper pursued the suspect into a high-speed chase in DOWNTOWN Minneapolis at 1 o'clock in the morning when it is quite clear that they already had the suspect's license plate and likely the name and address," the statement said. "If they would not have pushed him, our son and brother would still be alive today."