St. Paul police witness fatal hit-and-run, driver arrested

ST. PAUL, Minn. (KMSP) - St. Paul Police have arrested a 24-year-old driver after officers reportedly saw him strike and kill a pedestrian with his vehicle early Tuesday morning. 

St. Paul police officers were patrolling the area of 7th Street East around 2 a.m. when they saw a vehicle hit a pedestrian in the eastbound lane just past Kittson Avenue. The officers stopped to investigate and found a man lying in the street. The car that struck the man did not stop. 

One of the officers jumped out of the marked squad car to render aid to the victim, while the other officer pursued the driver who hit the man, according to a news release. First responders arrived and started chest compressions, but the victim was pronounced dead at the scene. 

The officer caught up to the vehicle on Mounds Boulevard, where the driver had pulled over to the side of the road. The vehicle had front-end damage and the officer smelled alcohol on breath of the 24-year-old suspect. He was arrested on suspicion of criminal vehicular homicide.  

Police say this is the third pedestrian fatality in St. Paul this year.