Minneapolis police release car's description from fatal hit-and-run crash; victim ID'd

Minneapolis police on Monday released a description of the car whose driver hit and killed a man over the weekend, then left the scene.

The crash occurred about 3:30 a.m. Sunday at E. 26th Street and S. Hiawatha Avenue, police said. Officers arrived to find the man down in the intersection, and emergency medical responders determined he was dead, according to police.

The victim was identified Monday by police as Kendrick M. Hemphill, 36, of Minneapolis.

Police said the car involved is a red Chevrolet Impala. They also noted there are surveillance cameras in the area that might have captured at least some of the incident. Police have not announced any arrests or said whether the car has been located.

The car was heading south on Hiawatha, hit the man and "was not on scene when the officers arrived," a police statement read.

This is the second traffic fatality at that intersection in less than a week.

On May 9, a stolen motorcycle went through a red light and struck an SUV, police said. One of two men on the motorcycle, Juan Antonio Rincon, 45, died at the scene. A man in his 30s who also was on the motorcycle was taken by emergency responders to HCMC for his injuries, police said.

The SUV driver was not hurt.

Police recovered a gun at the scene, but did not say whether it was associated with the motorcycle or the SUV.

Sunday's crash also was the second fatal wreck for the city over the weekend. A high-speed wreck Saturday in north Minneapolis killed one man and injured another about 3 p.m. near N. Lyndale and 51st avenues, police said.

Romeo A. Thompson, 20, of Brooklyn Park, was found dead in the car, according to police and the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office. The second man, also in his 20s, had noncritical injuries and was taken by emergency responders to HCMC, police said. His identity has yet to be released.