St. Cloud police on Thursday identified the pedestrian who was hit and killed by a 20-year-old motorist this week.
Mohammed Aga Intale, 84, of St. Cloud, was walking northbound in or near a crosswalk in downtown St. Cloud, police said, when the westbound driver hit him near the intersection of 5th Avenue and 1st Street N. about 3 p.m. Wednesday. Intale was taken to the St. Cloud Hospital, where he died.
The driver sped off after the crash, but police found the St. Cloud man at a home in the 1300 block of 12th Avenue N. He was arrested and remains in the Stearns County jail pending charges for leaving the scene of a fatal accident. The Star Tribune generally doesn't name people who haven't yet been charged with a crime.
So far this year, 30 pedestrians have been killed in Minnesota, part of the 331 traffic deaths statewide. Earlier this month, a 63-year-old New Ulm man died while crossing a main street after being hit by a car driven by a 48-year-old woman.
With the shorter daylight hours, the number of crashes involving pedestrians and cars increases each fall. Last year, 42 pedestrians were killed in Minnesota, and 60 deaths occurred in 2016.
Kelly Smith
