Nov 17, 2006 9:38 am US/Central
Cold Case: Boy Killed In Sledding Accident
by Caroline Lowe
St. Paul (WCCO) ―
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The sled Long Thao was riding on when he stuck a pickup truck in St. Paul in 1997.
CBS
St. Paul Police Sgt. Rick Klein can't forget a snowy Sunday afternoon nine years ago on the city's East side.
That's when 7-year-old Long Thao rode on his sled down an icy hill into the path of a pickup truck on Old Hudson Road. Long's brother watched as the truck's driver kept on going, leaving the child to die in the street.
"This is the spot where he slid out. I remember it like yesterday," Klein said on a recent visit back to the scene. "He left the boy to die. He didn't call anybody, didn't check on him. He merely drove away and left him lying in the street."
Long's brother ran to a neighbor's house for help.
"Do I think he caused the accident? No. Do I think he should have stopped? Yeah," said Klein, a veteran accident investigator.
The hit-and-run case soon turned cold, but a few months later, it took an unusual twist.
A 63-year-old St. Paul man sent Long's family a check for $900 and later came by their home.
Klein said man told the family he had been in the area and he had seen the boy on the sled. The man then told the family he may have hit the boy.
The family called police who questioned the man, towed his truck and arrested him.
"He admitted some parts of the story, initially when we talked to him at his door," Klein said, adding he feels the man is the person responsible for the accident.
Long's family has moved away from the area but the suspect still lives in St. Paul.
Klein still runs into the suspect sometimes and says to him, "Any time you are ready to talk, I am ready to listen."
WCCO-TV contacted the man, who's 72 years old now, by phone last week.
He said, "I have no comment whatsoever. I have nothing to say."
Anyone with information about the deadly hit and run that took the life of 7-year-old Long Thao should call the St. Paul Police Department at 651-291-1111 and ask for Sgt. Rick Klein.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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