Drunk Driver in Fatal Hit-and-Run was Traveling at a High Speed

On Behalf of | Nov 14, 2012 | DUI, DWI |

Austin Conley was hit by a Chevy Lumina twice with the first impact knocking him out of his shoes and into the air. The second impact occurred when he came back down and the car hit him again to then drag him down a street in Minneapolis.

Conley, 20, was struck on October 27th at approximately 2:50 am. In the Minneapolis Warehouse District and a St. Paul woman was charged in the incident on October 30th. She was intoxicated at the time of the accident and she does have a prior DWI conviction. She has been convicted of a DWI before.

Teisha Yovonne Randle, 27, has been charged by Hennepin County prosecutors with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide. The charges state that she was grossly negligent in the operation of her car and even left the crash scene.

The person who called 911 told the dispatcher that the car was going around 90 when Conley was hit. The caller said they believed Conley to be dead.

Conley was a college freshman and lived in Minneapolis. He later died at the Hennepin County Medical Center.

In the meantime, Randle was held at the Ramsey County Adult Detention Center and it has not been determined when she will have her first hearing before a judge.

Because Randle left the scene, it was tipsters that led to the police locating her. When she was found, she told police that she thought someone had thrown a rock at her car and busted her windshield.

The criminal complaint also states that she told officers that she had parked her car in Minneapolis and called a friend to take her home, but police found the car in her garage instead. Officers were able to see at first glance that the car had a significant amount of damage to the hood and to the windshield.

Randle did tell the investigators that she had been with friends that night celebrating a birthday at the Imperial Room. The Imperial Room is a Minneapolis hot spot. She told them that she was driving 40 mph when she left and suddenly heard a loud noise. She said her windshield simply exploded, so she kept driving until she reached the Dowling Avenue exit and was able to leave the freeway. This is when she said she called a friend and left her car.

Witnesses said that Randle was speeding and swerving. At the time of the accident, Conley and a number of others were crossing the street within a crosswalk and the crosswalk signal said “walk.”

Witnesses further stated that the driver never slowed down and took a freeway entrance. Two other drivers also said the Lumina was cutting off other drivers and swerving, at one point almost hitting another vehicle.

In 2006, Randle pleaded guilty to fourth-degree DWI, which is a misdemeanor offense. She spent 10 days in the county workhouse after 50 of her days were stayed. She was given credit for two days she had already served and told to spend another eight days on “sentence to service.”

In March 2007, she violated her unsupervised probation, so she had to pay a $50 fine and $618 in restitution. She also had to attend a MADD victim-impact panel. She did not follow through with these orders, nor did she appear for her probation violation hearing. A warrant was issued and her probation continued for another six months. Her probation ended in April 2010.

Drunk driving charges are serious, and can have a huge impact on your life. If you’ve been charged with a DWI, contact an experienced DWI attorney today by calling 612-688-2299.

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