A man who killed an 80-year-old Maplewood woman by fleeing Oakdale police in a stolen SUV, running a red light and crashing into her car received a nearly 14-year prison sentence Friday.
Shirley Bilden of Maplewood, 80, died from her injuries four days after the two-vehicle crash at the intersection of Geneva Avenue and 10th Street in Oakdale on July 10, 2021.
Scott David Hardy (Courtesy of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office)
Scott David Hardy, 36, of Wadena, Minn., pleaded guilty this February to fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle resulting in death. As part of a plea deal, the prosecution dismissed two other charges: receiving stolen property and attempted theft of a motor vehicle.
Hardy and prosecutors also agreed to the length of his prison term, which is at the bottom of state sentencing guidelines. He received credit on Friday for two years and 273 days that he’s already served in custody.
It was just after 4 p.m. when police received a call that a stolen Chevrolet Tahoe was parked outside a Cub Foods in Oakdale, according to the criminal complaint. When officers arrived, they identified the driver of the vehicle as Hardy. They told him to turn off the ignition and put his hands out the window; instead, he gunned the engine and drove away at high speed.
At first, officers chased him with lights and sirens as he sped through neighborhoods, going off road through yards at speeds of up to 70 mph.
The officers called off the pursuit for “safety reasons,” the complaint says.
Shortly after, police saw a large plume of white smoke in the distance.
Hardy had run a red light, hitting Bilden’s Chevrolet Malibu. Both cars were severely damaged. Witnesses said Hardy ran from the scene.
Bilden was having trouble breathing and had significant injuries, including a compound fracture to her left ankle and fractures to her back, shoulder and vertebrae.
A man was injured in the back of the stolen Tahoe, and a woman in the front passenger seat was spitting blood and going in and out of consciousness, the complaint says. At one point she said, “I can’t believe he left me here to die.”
All three crash victims were taken to the hospital.
Police received a call that Hardy was being restrained by people at Union Cemetery in Maplewood after he tried to steal a woman’s car while she and her children were at a gravesite. The woman said she saw Hardy, who was covered in blood, get into her car and she yelled for him to get out, which he eventually did.
Hardy had several warrants for his arrest at the time, the complaint said. His prior criminal record includes two felony assault convictions.
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