5-year sentence for fatal hit-and-run

A Faribault man was sentenced for running down a man in a Burnsville parking lot and then speeding away.

Last update: October 11, 2008 - 12:22 AM

Armando Velasquez will spend nearly five years in prison for an April hit-and-run accident that killed a Prior Lake man, a judge ruled Friday.

Velasquez, 20, of Faribault, Minn., had pleaded guilty to criminal vehicular homicide for the April 5 death of 32-year-old Carlos Eduardo Noriega in a Burnsville parking lot.

Noriega was run down following a fight between two groups outside the Event Center on Cliff Road. Velasquez and his brother, Francisco Velasquez, climbed into a car and drove toward the parking lot exit before making a U-turn and hitting Noriega. They then sped away.

Police found the car nine days later, hidden in the garage of the brothers' friend. Investigators said the car showed signs of body work and sanding. Armando Velasquez later admitted to driving the car.

Martina Narvaez previously pleaded guilty to aiding an offender, a felony, for helping Armando Velasquez avoid arrest. Similar charges against Francisco Velasquez are pending.

ABBY SIMONS

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