A 30-year-old man has been charged with running over and killing a pedestrian while fleeing St. Paul police in a stolen car before dawn last month.

Leonie L. Sparkman, of St. Paul, was charged Monday in Ramsey County District Court with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the crash on Oct. 22 that killed Brian S. Reed, 55, who lived a few doors down from where he was hit.

A warrant was issued for the arrest of Sparkman, whose criminal history in Minnesota includes two convictions for careless driving.

According to the criminal complaint:

Police were called shortly before 5 a.m. to the 100 block of Bridlewood Drive, south of the Ruth Street exit from Interstate 94, to check on "suspicious activity."

An officer approached a car and spoke with a woman who was crying and said Sparkman was her boyfriend. Sparkman, in the back seat of the car, gave police a false name and ran before an officer could handcuff and arrest him.

Sparkman got in a different car up the block and drove off. The car's owner said she left it running in the driveway to warm it up.

Moments later, one of the officers heard a vehicle crash. Sparkman drove into a tree and hit Reed about a quarter-mile to the west at Valleyside Drive and Parkland Court.

Reed ended up in the street at least 30 yards from where the stolen car came to rest. Fire Department personnel declared him dead at the scene.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482