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General Banter / Re: Crashes Reported in the Media
« on: April 13, 2014, 07:19:34 AM »
update on the st paul crash from last year.
http://www.twincities.com/crime/ci_25546077/vadnais-heights-woman-who-fatally-hit-st-paul
The woman who hit and killed a 92-year-old motorcyclist in St. Paul had marijuana in her system and lacked a valid driver's license and insurance.
Autumn Brenae Mason, 26, of Vadnais Heights had had her driving privileges suspended or revoked 15 times in about half as many years by the time she struck Roy Kromschroeder of St. Paul, a prosecutor told a sentencing judge Friday.
Mason sped from the scene after the Sept. 13 collision.
Ramsey County District Judge Joy Bartscher sentenced Mason on Friday to four years in prison, despite an impassioned plea from Mason's attorney to place her on probation.
The judge said Mason had been smoking marijuana after she had been sentenced for two check forgery felonies in January. At that time, Mason was sentenced to 19 days, the amount of time she already had served while awaiting sentence, and was released from custody.
"As a judge, I just can't ignore that," Bartscher said. "I know that you are sorry ... (but) you've been making bad choices since."
Several of Mason's family mebers, who filled about half the courtroom gallery, left sobbing when the judge pronounced sentence and ordered Mason into immediate custody. At least two relatives, Mason's aunt and a brother, stopped to tell Kromschroeder's relatives how sorry they were for their loss.
In addition to the prison time, Bartscher ordered Mason to pay the victim's family nearly $38,000 for Kromschroeder's medical expenses and to reimburse the Crime Victims Reparations Board for the $4,700 it paid for his funeral.
Mason hit Kromschroeder at Prosperity and Ivy avenues in St. Paul about 7:45 a.m. One of her children was with her in the vehicle, her attorney said.
Both drivers had stopped at a four-way stop sign. Mason was headed west on Ivy, Kromschroeder north on Prosperity.
A witness said Mason "accelerated in a manner that gave her the impression that Mason had become impatient," the criminal complaint said.
After hitting the motorcycle, Mason stopped her 2000 Dodge Durango SUV. She got out, checked on Kromschroeder, then drove off.
"Witnesses said they tried to follow the defendant as she drove away, but she drove away so fast they did not feel it was safe," said Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Lawrence Schultz.
When Maplewood police tracked Mason at her house through her license plate, which fell off on impact at the crash and was found atop the motorcycle, she admitted she had been in an accident.
Mason's mother, the Durango's registered owner, said Mason arrived home panicked and told her about the crash.
Kromschroeder was taken to Regions Hospital in St. Paul, where he died that afternoon. His helmet had flown off on impact, and he had suffered a broken skull, broken legs, broken ribs and a brain hemorrhage, Schultz said.
Mason's record includes convictions for theft, aiding and abetting prostitution and driving while intoxicated.
Kromschroeder's daughter, Janis Braaten, told the court he was so healthy and energetic, anyone would assume he was 20 years younger. He walked regularly at Maplewood Mall, rode his motorcycle and had a "very special friend" in a 100-year-old woman, she said.
Kromschroeder had attended former kindergarten teacher Kathryn Wingate's 100th birthday party two weeks before the accident, presenting her with a dozen yellow roses, Braaten said.
He was scheduled to walk at the mall with a friend on the day of the crash. When he didn't show up, the friend called Braaten. She tried his cellphone and an emergency room nurse answered, telling her she to rush to Regions, she said.
Upon arrival, she and other relatives learned Kromschroeder wasn't going to survive.
Family members miss the cards he would send on every birthday and anniversary, Braaten said. He was a devoted father, grandfather and great-grandfather, she said.
"No one, and I mean no one, should die the way he did," Braaten said.
Mason's attorney, Cullin Smith, argued for probation instead of prison. The crash was an accident -- something that comes close to happening to many of us, he said.
"For most of us, we have the moment of relief where we didn't hit that car, (or) child (or) motorcycle," Smith said.
Mason's mother was a local activist, and Mason also had contributed to the community, he said. He added that she is pregnant and would have to give birth in prison if incarcerated.
Mason tearfully expressed remorse in court, turning at one point to Kromschroeder's family.
"I apologize from the bottom of my heart for what you guys are going through," she said.
Kromschroeder's daughter said the apology felt sincere, and the fact that Mason's family reached out afterward "meant a lot to me."
"This is a sad story for everyone, (including) her and her family and her baby and her kids," Braaten said after the hearing.
As for the sentence, Braaten said she believed it was just.
Emily Gurnon can be reached at 651-228-5522. Follow her at twitter.com/emilygurnon.
http://www.twincities.com/crime/ci_25546077/vadnais-heights-woman-who-fatally-hit-st-paul
The woman who hit and killed a 92-year-old motorcyclist in St. Paul had marijuana in her system and lacked a valid driver's license and insurance.
Autumn Brenae Mason, 26, of Vadnais Heights had had her driving privileges suspended or revoked 15 times in about half as many years by the time she struck Roy Kromschroeder of St. Paul, a prosecutor told a sentencing judge Friday.
Mason sped from the scene after the Sept. 13 collision.
Ramsey County District Judge Joy Bartscher sentenced Mason on Friday to four years in prison, despite an impassioned plea from Mason's attorney to place her on probation.
The judge said Mason had been smoking marijuana after she had been sentenced for two check forgery felonies in January. At that time, Mason was sentenced to 19 days, the amount of time she already had served while awaiting sentence, and was released from custody.
"As a judge, I just can't ignore that," Bartscher said. "I know that you are sorry ... (but) you've been making bad choices since."
Several of Mason's family mebers, who filled about half the courtroom gallery, left sobbing when the judge pronounced sentence and ordered Mason into immediate custody. At least two relatives, Mason's aunt and a brother, stopped to tell Kromschroeder's relatives how sorry they were for their loss.
In addition to the prison time, Bartscher ordered Mason to pay the victim's family nearly $38,000 for Kromschroeder's medical expenses and to reimburse the Crime Victims Reparations Board for the $4,700 it paid for his funeral.
Mason hit Kromschroeder at Prosperity and Ivy avenues in St. Paul about 7:45 a.m. One of her children was with her in the vehicle, her attorney said.
Both drivers had stopped at a four-way stop sign. Mason was headed west on Ivy, Kromschroeder north on Prosperity.
A witness said Mason "accelerated in a manner that gave her the impression that Mason had become impatient," the criminal complaint said.
After hitting the motorcycle, Mason stopped her 2000 Dodge Durango SUV. She got out, checked on Kromschroeder, then drove off.
"Witnesses said they tried to follow the defendant as she drove away, but she drove away so fast they did not feel it was safe," said Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Lawrence Schultz.
When Maplewood police tracked Mason at her house through her license plate, which fell off on impact at the crash and was found atop the motorcycle, she admitted she had been in an accident.
Mason's mother, the Durango's registered owner, said Mason arrived home panicked and told her about the crash.
Kromschroeder was taken to Regions Hospital in St. Paul, where he died that afternoon. His helmet had flown off on impact, and he had suffered a broken skull, broken legs, broken ribs and a brain hemorrhage, Schultz said.
Mason's record includes convictions for theft, aiding and abetting prostitution and driving while intoxicated.
Kromschroeder's daughter, Janis Braaten, told the court he was so healthy and energetic, anyone would assume he was 20 years younger. He walked regularly at Maplewood Mall, rode his motorcycle and had a "very special friend" in a 100-year-old woman, she said.
Kromschroeder had attended former kindergarten teacher Kathryn Wingate's 100th birthday party two weeks before the accident, presenting her with a dozen yellow roses, Braaten said.
He was scheduled to walk at the mall with a friend on the day of the crash. When he didn't show up, the friend called Braaten. She tried his cellphone and an emergency room nurse answered, telling her she to rush to Regions, she said.
Upon arrival, she and other relatives learned Kromschroeder wasn't going to survive.
Family members miss the cards he would send on every birthday and anniversary, Braaten said. He was a devoted father, grandfather and great-grandfather, she said.
"No one, and I mean no one, should die the way he did," Braaten said.
Mason's attorney, Cullin Smith, argued for probation instead of prison. The crash was an accident -- something that comes close to happening to many of us, he said.
"For most of us, we have the moment of relief where we didn't hit that car, (or) child (or) motorcycle," Smith said.
Mason's mother was a local activist, and Mason also had contributed to the community, he said. He added that she is pregnant and would have to give birth in prison if incarcerated.
Mason tearfully expressed remorse in court, turning at one point to Kromschroeder's family.
"I apologize from the bottom of my heart for what you guys are going through," she said.
Kromschroeder's daughter said the apology felt sincere, and the fact that Mason's family reached out afterward "meant a lot to me."
"This is a sad story for everyone, (including) her and her family and her baby and her kids," Braaten said after the hearing.
As for the sentence, Braaten said she believed it was just.
Emily Gurnon can be reached at 651-228-5522. Follow her at twitter.com/emilygurnon.
