A motorist charged Monday with hitting a 65-year-old woman on the side of a Maplewood road and leaving the scene was driving without a license at the time of the fatal 2022 crash, according to authorities.

Adrianee Laruth Powell-Onwuji, 38, of St. Paul, faces criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the collision that killed Eri Nakamura of Oakdale. She was charged by summons and remained out of custody Tuesday.

Adrianee Laruth Powell-Onwuji (Courtesy of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)

She declined to comment on the charge when reached by phone Tuesday. “I just found out about it this morning,” she said.

A Minnesota Department of Public Safety spokesman said Tuesday that Powell-Onwuji’s license has been either suspended or revoked since April 2011, and that it’s currently revoked.

Nakamura had been walking south on the shoulder of Century Avenue (Minnesota Highway 120) near Fifth Street when she was struck around 7:35 p.m. Feb. 6, 2022, according to the Minnesota State Patrol’s incident report.

A day after the crash, the state patrol asked for the public’s help in identifying the suspect’s vehicle, which they said was a 2015 to 2020 silver Mitsubishi sport-utility vehicle with damage to the front and driver’s side.

The state patrol announced the next day that a tip led investigators to the SUV and the suspected driver, who was not named. Charges were pending, the state patrol said at the time.

Mark Haase, a spokesman for the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office, said Tuesday that it took time to bring charges against Powell-Onwuji because of the crash reconstruction and that investigators had to collect evidence related to her claim that damage to her SUV was unrelated to the fatal collision.

She’d been at a bar

Officers sent to the crash scene found Nakamura in the road surrounded by drivers who had stopped to help her. She was taken to Regions Hospital and died in the emergency room.

The drivers had moved silver parts of a front bumper and a fog light assembly from the road to the shoulder. Officers determined the parts at the scene belonged to a Mitsubishi.

A state patrol investigator received a tip from an unidentified caller about a driving complaint involving a silver Mitsubishi SUV that had front-end damage, according to the criminal complaint. The caller gave the investigator the license plate information, which showed the SUV was registered to Powell-Onwuji.

Troopers found Powell-Onwuji’s SUV at her St. Paul apartment building in the 300 block of Winthrop Street South, just west of McKnight Road. It had damage to the driver’s side front quarter panel and it was missing parts similar to the ones found at the crash site, the complaint says.

Troopers went to Powell-Onwuji’s workplace. She told them she had met a friend at Titan’s Sports Saloon at 1267 Geneva Ave. N. in Oakdale the night of the crash.

Powell-Onwuji said her friend was arrested for drunken driving shortly after leaving the bar and that her SUV was damaged while trying to push her friend’s vehicle. She said she got home around 8 p.m.

Powell-Onwuji did not recall hitting anyone. She was arrested. While being taken to jail, she said “something to the effect that she should have realized she had hit something,” the complaint says.

The parts recovered from the crash scene match the parts missing from her SUV, according to the complaint.

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By LINDSAY WHITEHURST

WASHINGTON (AP) — A member of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s security detail shot an armed man during an attempted carjacking in the early morning hours, according to court documents.

It happened as two deputy U.S. Marshals were on duty in a government car in Washington, D.C., about 1 a.m. on July 5. They were confronted by a man who got out of a silver minivan and pointed a gun at one of them through the driver’s side window, according to a criminal complaint. The car was unmarked but the pair were dressed in U.S. Marshals shirts.

The deputy pulled out his department-issued gun and shot the man about four times, hitting him in the mouth. He then gave the man first aid while the minivan drove away, charges state. The suspect was hospitalized and placed under arrest.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Marshals confirmed the deputies were part of the detail protecting Supreme Court justices. The deputies were stationed near Sotomayor’s home.

There was no indication that Sotomayor was the target of the attack, which comes after a string of high-profile carjackings in the nation’s capital. Other victims last year included a diplomat from the United Arab Emirates and U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas. Secret Service agents protecting President Joe Biden’s granddaughter also opened fire after three people tried to break into an unmarked Secret Service vehicle last year. No one was struck.

After an interview process that began in May with more than 50 applicants, the Dakota County Board of Commissioners selected a new county manager Tuesday.

Heidi Welsch was selected Tuesday, July 9, 2024 to be the next Dakota County Manager. The decision, which was made by the county’s Board of Commissioners, marks the first time a woman has held the top role in the county. (Courtesy of Dakota County)

Heidi Welsch was selected as the next Dakota County Manager and will be the first woman to hold the title for the state’s third-largest county.

Welsch, who holds a doctorate degree in public administration from Hamline University, will lead a team of more than 2,000 employees who provide 225 services and programs to county residents, according to a county news release.

“Dr. Welsch has an extraordinary record of success, innovation and consensus-building in every position she has ever held,” Dakota County Board Chair Joe Atkins said in the release. “I look forward to her leading Dakota County.”

For the past seven years Welsch has served as the Olmsted County administrator and previously served as the county’s deputy administrator for eight months.

Welsch also worked for Dakota County as the manager of the Office of Planning and Analysis for six years and as the deputy director of Employment and Economic Assistance for two years.

“I’m grateful and excited for this opportunity to return to Dakota County,” Welsch said in the release. “I look forward to leading the great team of employees serving the residents and communities of Dakota County.”

She will take over for former county manager Matt Smith, who held the role for eight years before retiring in May.

A start date for Welsch has yet to be announced as the employment offer is pending salary negotiations.

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