Charges: Unlicensed driver doing 'donuts' slams into downtown Minneapolis crowd, critically injures 14-year-old boy

A 20-year-old driver stands charged with felonies after he was accused of hitting and critically injuring a 14-year-old boy and slightly injuring two other teenagers while doing tire-squealing burnouts in downtown Minneapolis.

Markques A. Floyd, of Little Canada, was charged Thursday in Hennepin County District Court with four counts of criminal vehicular operation, one alleging hit-and-run, in connection with the late-night incident May 21 when "a large group of 'hot-rodders' " gathered near N. Border and 3rd avenues, according to a criminal complaint.

At the request of the prosecution, which argued that Floyd "poses a threat to public safety," the court issued a warrant for his arrest.

Floyd told the Star Tribune on Friday that he was unaware of the charges but intended to turn himself in.

He said he fled the scene because "30 people tried to just jump on me. I stopped the car as soon as I could."

"I sincerely apologize and hope the 14-year-old is OK," Floyd said, adding that he was trying to learn the teenager's name so he could apologize directly to him.

Floyd was driving with a license that has been suspended since Jan. 12, the state Department of Public Safety said Friday.

According to the complaint against Floyd:

Police were alerted about 11:40 p.m. that someone had been hit in an area where "hot-rodders often gather by the hundreds with their vehicles to conduct burnouts and street races."

The victim was unconscious and had a large cut on his head. A bystander was holding a T-shirt to the fallen teen's head in hopes of stopping the bleeding. Paramedics took the boy to a hospital, where doctors said he was in critical condition with a traumatic brain injury and a broken bone above his left eye.

Witnesses said the driver of the 2003 Infiniti G35 was doing doughnuts in the middle of the road "by burning out his tires and driving in a circle" before losing control and striking a crowd of spectators. Floyd reportedly abandoned his vehicle and ran away.

Two 17-year-olds also were struck, but both declined medical attention for minor leg pain.

In an interview soon afterward with police, Floyd admitted doing doughnuts when the car went into the crowd. He said he ran because the crowd was growing aggressive.

Groups of people in vehicles have been pulling off various stunts for months in Minneapolis as spectators block intersections downtown, Uptown and elsewhere in the city.

The physical risk of watching the high-revving vehicles up close has proved to be more than just being run over. Over the first weekend in June, two people in their late teens were fatally shot by stray gunfire while at separate gatherings in Minneapolis.

Vanessa Jensen, 19, was killed June 6 in the 2200 block of N. 2nd Street in north Minneapolis when two hot-rodders opened fire on each other during a dispute.

The following day, Nicholas Enger, 17, died when he was shot while watching street racing on E. Lake Street, where it goes under Hiawatha Avenue.

Police spokesman John Elder said after the two deaths that there has been a "steep increase" in illegal street racing over the past 18 months.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482