Jun 17, 2008 9:38 am US/Central
Man Charged In Crash That Killed Minn. Artist
ANOKA, Minn. (WCCO) ―
A Minneapolis man has been charged with causing a crash that killed one of his passengers and then leaving the scene, according to the Anoka County Attorney's Office.
The driver, 25-year-old Christopher Anderson, was arrested Saturday morning not long after walking away from the scene of the crash in Oak Grove.
Thirty-year-old Jeff Hettwer, an accomplished painter from Ham Lake, was killed in the crash.
According to the criminal charges, the BMW Anderson was driving hit a parked SUV and stopped about 200 feet down Zion Parkway. He was later found by police trying to flag down passing cars for a ride.
Anderson told officers he had been drinking all evening while bowling with his friends. But in a statement later made to investigators, Anderson denied having driven the BMW. He claimed he was actually a passenger in the car.
An apparently accidental cell phone call made to an acquaintance revealed a conversation wherein Anderson was attempting to coerce a friend to drive the car. The friend, however, refused, saying he was not in any state to drive.
Two other passengers in the car were taken to the hospital with injuries, but they're expected to be OK.
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