Unlicensed driver sentenced to nearly 4 years for fatally hitting bicyclist on Minneapolis sidewalk

A 32-year-old man received a nearly four-year term Monday for hitting and killing a bicyclist riding on a Minneapolis sidewalk.

Aspen Burns, of Minneapolis, was sentenced in Hennepin County District Court after pleading guilty to criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the late-night crash on Sept. 12, 2020, on Cedar Avenue near Franklin Avenue that injured Dennis K. Thompson, 38, of New Hope. Thompson died in March 2022 at North Memorial Health Hospital.

At the time of the crash, Burns was driving despite his license having been revoked, the Department of Public Safety said. Burns has been convicted twice previously in Minnesota for driving without a valid license.

With credit for time in jail after his arrest, Burns is expected to serve about 2⅓ years in prison and the balance of his 3¾-year term on supervised release.

According to the criminal complaint:

Officers arrived at the scene about 12:40 a.m. and saw the badly damaged SUV and several light posts, a crosswalk post and a bus stop pole that also were damaged. One light pole “traveled approximately 600 feet before coming to rest,” the complaint said.

A witness said she saw the SUV driver “flooring it” while heading north on Cedar, then went onto the sidewalk and struck the bicyclist.

An unconscious Thompson was taken by emergency medical responders to HCMC, where he was treated for a severe brain injury, broken vertebrae and fractured ribs and hip. He also lost a portion of one finger.

A woman in the SUV told police that she and Burns were arguing in the moments before the crash and that he had been drinking. A law enforcement test of Burns’ blood revealed an alcohol content of 0.06%, within the legal limit for driving in Minnesota.