A motorist with a history of driving drunk who was stripped of her license years ago will plead guilty to running over a woman in Brooklyn Center and fleeing as the 84-year-old pedestrian lay in the road with fatal injuries.
Unlicensed motorist admits to pedestrian's hit-and-run death in Brooklyn Center
The plea deal calls for the driver, who had five DWIs, to receive a four-year term.
September 14, 2022 at 9:45PM
Tammy R. Olson, 59, reached an agreement with the Hennepin County Attorney's Office to admit to criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the crash on June 1, 2021, near Xerxes Avenue and Bass Lake Road that killed Joyce Acosta.
The plea deal calls for Olson, of Brooklyn Center, to receive a four-year term when she is sentenced on Sept. 26. Olson can expect to serve the first two years and eight months in prison and the balance on supervised release.
Court records in Minnesota show that Olson's fifth drunken-driving conviction occurred in November 2017. A preliminary breath test taken soon after she left a liquor store in Bloomington measured her blood alcohol content at 0.27%, more than three times the legal limit for driving in Minnesota.
Last year's criminal complaint said Olson's license had been canceled and she was on supervised release for the 2017 conviction. The state Department of Public Safety said Olson had her driving privileges taken from her more than 5½ years ago.
According to the criminal complaint and police:
Witnesses told police they saw a car hit Acosta shortly after 3 p.m. as she was walking across Xerxes Avenue near Bass Lake Road, but not in a crosswalk.
Another witness said he saw the car shortly before the crash behind him in the drive-through of a nearby Taco Bell. He said the driver was yelling at him for not exiting the drive-thru lane fast enough.
Just as Olson's car was about to speed away from the fast-food outlet, the man took photos of the driver and the license plate before he saw Acosta being struck.
Police used the license plate photo to track the car to Olson's garage that evening. She told police the pedestrian ran in front of her car.
Olson smelled of alcohol and acknowledged to police that she had a few drinks before driving that afternoon.
Acosta died a week later at North Memorial Health Hospital in Robbinsdale.
The pilot was the only person inside the plane, and was not injured in the emergency landing, according to the State Patrol.
