Minneapolis man charged with bicyclist's hit-and-run death

A 25-year-old Minneapolis man has been charged with criminal vehicular homicide in the death of a bicyclist last week.

The charges against Abdirahman Abdi Ali say he was the driver of the car that hit 24-year-old Jessica Hanson about 10:30 on the night of July 3. She died of her injuries two days later.

The Hennepin County District Court complaint says there was at least one witness to the crime, a woman who saw the incident, followed the car, and took down the license number on the Toyota Camry believed to be involved in the crash. The witness also told police the car was speeding, had its headlights off and ran a stop sign at Pleasant Avenue and 28th Street in South Minneapolis, where Hanson was struck.

Another driver told police that she was nearly hit by a car on Pleasant Avenue a block away, and said it came at her with its lights off from the direction of the crash.

Investigators tracked down the car last Friday. They said it was freshly washed, had been dented, and was missing the driver's side window and a rear-view mirror. Police also found a rear-view mirror at the crash site, and is said to be the same color as the Camry.

The criminal complaint says a person who identified himself as Ali called police that same day and said he had hit a person while driving on Pleasant Avenue. He allegedly told investigators that he believed someone had been shooting at his car and that's why he fled the scene of the crash. Police said he'd told his mother that he'd been in an accident and that he'd hit a bicyclist.

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