A 57-year-old man drank heavily at a St. Paul bar before he drove off and killed a pedestrian nearby, then avoided arrest until police caught up with him days later, according to a criminal complaint filed Thursday.
Robert W. Kinney of Maplewood was charged in Ramsey County District Court with criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the death Jan. 22 of John D. Benjamin, 68.
Benjamin was hit near his home while walking about 8:35 p.m. that day and was then left facedown to die against a snowbank along N. McKnight Road near the intersection with Margaret Street, the complaint said.
Kinney appeared in court Friday and posted bond. Court records do not list an attorney for him.
According to the complaint:
Kinney drank eight double shots of vodka over a three-hour stretch in the 5-8 Tavern & Grill, where a tipster described him to police as a regular.
He left the bar at 8:23 p.m., according to the business' surveillance video.
Police were alerted at 8:37 p.m. to Benjamin being down in the snow a little more than a block away.