Charges: Unlicensed driver purposely hit 4 in Minneapolis crosswalks, with one dragged and killed

An unlicensed driver purposely hit four pedestrians in crosswalks in two back-to-back crashes in south Minneapolis, with one of her victims being dragged beneath the vehicle and suffering fatal injuries, charges and police said.

Sophia Elizabeth Sullivan, 38, was charged Friday in Hennepin County District Court with four counts each of criminal vehicular operation and second-degree assault, and one count of first-degree assault in connection with the incidents early Wednesday evening.

Sullivan was arrested moments later at her home near the scene of the second crash and remains jailed in lieu of $1 million bail. She is due in court Monday afternoon. Court records do not list an attorney for her.

The death Friday of one of the victims should lead to more serious charges being added against Sullivan, possibly criminal vehicular homicide or murder.

The charges did not offer a motive for the victims being run over or whether Sullivan knew any of them. Officials have not released any of the victims’ identities.

At the time of the crashes, Sullivan was driving while her license was revoked, and she has not had a valid license for nearly a decade, a state Department of Public Safety spokesman said Monday.

According to the court filings and police:

A woman in her 40s and a teenage girl told police they were at the intersection of W. 26th Street and Grand Avenue S. and entered the crosswalk after the traffic light turned green for them. A car ran the light, hit both of them and drove off.

Both were taken to HCMC. One of the females suffered a head injury, while the other had “minor burn marks caused by contact with the concrete” and some bleeding, the charges read.

About five minutes later and a half-mile to the west, Sullivan stopped her car momentarily, then drove alongside a man and a woman in their 30s walking on a sidewalk. She then sped up and hit both of them once they entered the crosswalk at Emerson Avenue S.

Sullivan’s car “accelerated to a high speed and plowed directly into them,” the criminal complaint read, based on video from the area.

One of the victims was thrown 30 feet and ended up down next to a parked vehicle.

Sullivan drove north on Emerson with the woman on the hood, until she “abruptly braked. [The woman] was thrown from the hood and landed on the road near the curb,” the charges continued.

Sullivan then ran over the woman and “continued to drive down the road, dragging [the female] under the car” for about 40 yards, the court documents noted. “[Sullivan] eventually started swerving to the left and right, then turned into a parking lot, causing [the woman] to come out from under the car. [Sullivan] then appeared to run over her with the rear tires.”

Thanks to surveillance video, officers quickly caught up with Sullivan at her home that night and arrested her. Her car was parked outside. It was heavily damaged and appeared to have fresh blood on it.

Sullivan acknowledged driving the car within the time when the crashes occurred.

Both victims in the second incident were taken by emergency medical responders to HCMC. The female suffered numerous serious injuries, and she died on Friday, said Police Sgt. Garrett Parten.

The man suffered a broken wrist and other less serious injuries.