Man Pleads Guilty To Criminal Vehicular Homicide In Downtown Minneapolis Crash That Left Pedestrian Dead

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A man pleaded guilty last week to criminal vehicular homicide in connection to a downtown Minneapolis crash last May that left one pedestrian dead and another seriously hurt.

Court officials in Hennepin County say 27-year-old Thomas Hunter, of Minneapolis, pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal vehicular homicide: driving in a grossly negligent manner and causing substantial bodily harm through gross negligence.

Hunter entered a Norgaard plea, in which he acknowledged that there's enough evidence to convict him, even if he doesn't remember committing the crime.

The downtown Minneapolis crash happened on May 24. According to investigators, Hunter, whose license was revoked, was driving north on Marquette Avenue and ran a red light at 10th Street, hitting an eastbound car. The victim's vehicle spun, hitting two men who were at the northeast corner of the intersection, throwing them into the plate glass window of a nearby business.

One of the pedestrians, 62-year-old Stephan Rice of Burnsville, was killed. The other pedestrian survived with critical injuries.

In the immediate aftermath of the crash, police said that Hunter showed "signs of possible impairment." Prior to the crash, he had been sentenced to 13 months in prison after being convicted of fleeing police, assault, and driving while intoxicated in Beltrami County.

Hunter is slated to be sentenced for the criminal vehicular homicide counts in June.

[NOTE: An earlier version of this story indicated that police said the two pedestrians were in the intersection at the time of the crash. They were in the corner of the intersection, according to police reports.]