Charges: Man admits to leaving scene after striking pedestrian in fatal Roseville crash

A motorist who struck a pedestrian in Roseville in January has been charged with felony failure to stop at the scene of a traffic collision causing injury or death.

Ronald Andrew Jacobson Jr., 62, was the second motorist to hit a woman as she and a man crossed Larpenteur Avenue near Woodbridge Court on the evening of Jan. 3. A man in a pickup truck had first hit pedestrians Robert Blake Buxton, 47, and Meridith Aikens, 45, before Jacobson drove through the scene and struck Aikens. Jacobson drove away from the scene, according to the charges filed Thursday in Ramsey County District Court.

Both pedestrians died at the scene.

Jacobson had consumed 10 beers over a three-hour period at the Tin Cup Bar and then attempted to drive home. He was driving west on Larpenteur about 5:35 p.m. when he struck Aikens but did not stop, the complaint said.

A citizen saw the Roseville Police Department's request for tips and called detectives to tell them that Jacobson admitted to being "in the bag" and that he had been involved in the fatal crash, the complaint said.

Two days later, officers conducting surveillance spotted Jacobson's Chrysler Le-Baron at the Tin Cup on Dale Street. They arrested Jacobson for drunken driving after he drove away from the bar. An inspection of his vehicle showed a damaged air dam under the front portion of the car. Police also observed a blood-like substance hanging off the rear bumper of the car. A test by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension determined Jacobson's Le-Baron ran over Aikens and dragged her down the street, the complaint said.

A 46-year-old driver in a pickup truck hit the pedestrians first and stopped at the scene and cooperated with police. Then Jacobson came along, struck Aikens but kept going. "He admitted that he did not stop at the scene and that he never called and informed police that his car was involved in the incident," the complaint said.

If convicted, Jacobson faces a year in jail, a $1,500 fine or both.

Tim Harlow • 612-673-7768