A 38-year-old motorist who pulled onto an interstate ramp in Minneapolis to put gas in his car was hit and killed by an SUV that fled the scene, authorities said on Wednesday.
Anousone Phanthavong, of Roseville, a Minneapolis chef, was struck shortly after 11 p.m. Tuesday on the ramp leading from westbound Interstate 94 to Riverside Avenue, according to the State Patrol.
Based on a broken front-passenger-side fog light recovered by investigators at the scene, the patrol believes the suspect was driving a Mercedes sport-utility vehicle.
Phanthavong had been "an inspired chef and a very hard worker" at True Thai Restaurant, a couple of blocks south of where he was hit, according to the restaurant's blog posting noting the hit-and-run. He was not working that evening.
"Because he died so close to our restaurant, I know that his spirit will be watching over us just as he watched over our kitchen these last nine years," co-owner Anna Prasomphol Fieser wrote.
Fieser said she and Phanthavong spoke on the phone about 9:15 p.m. and arranged for him to come to the restaurant for gas money.
However, Fieser added, Phanthavong didn't show up. She assumes he found another way to pay for the gas he was putting in his car at the time he was hit.
"The $20, I still have it," Fieser said on Wednesday afternoon.
