in Des Moines, Iowa, blog post by John Hoff
A number of mainstream media entities have reported on a fatal hit-and-run at Fremont and 21st Ave. N. on March 23, and subsequent charges against Perry Bernard Atkins. Click here for example.
JNS Blog has dug up more horrific details, including the actual criminal complaint...
KSTP and other entities are identifying the victim as 70-year-old Mee Lor. The criminal complaint says Lor was in a 2007 Toyota being driven by her grandson. The grandson recounted that he had just stopped at a stop sign, then turned right, when an SUV traveling at a high rate of speed plowed into his car from behind and spun the vehicle into a tree. The SUV also spun around after the impact but the vehicle was still able to flee the scene.
Based on license plate information provided by more than one witness, (God bless these good citizens!) police tracked down the (alleged) driver.
Perry Bernard Atkins was (allegedly) driving on a suspended license, and when I say "allegedly" I mean I'd bet my next paycheck on it but there's still the matter of a trial or a plea bargain before it's official unless legendary attorney Perry Mason rises from the dead tomorrow, which is Easter.
Oh, wait. Perry Mason is fictional. I guess there's really no chance of Atkins getting out of this.
The vehicle Atkins was driving, according to his taped post-Miranda statement, was a tan GMC Yukon. Atkins said he was "scared" and left the scene of the accident. Atkins and his passenger (not named in the complaint) decided to abandon their vehicle and report it stolen. Atkins claimed he was going about 40 mph but measurements at the scene determined the minimum speed was more likely 51 mph. The posted speed limit is 30 mph.
Now, to put some whipped cream and a cherry on this ice cream sundae of detestable behavior by Atkins (allegedly) here is the guy's rap sheet from MNCIS.
Atkins, whose birthday is 8/25/88, had a North Minneapolis address (55411) when he was convicted in 2008 of driving an uninsured vehicle. This was apparently the charge which caused his driver's license to be suspended for failure to pay. A request to have his license reinstated was submitted April 25, 2011, but there's no indication that I can see any such reinstatement took place.
In October of last year, Atkins was charged with 3rd Degree Riot (Unlawful Force or Violence), 5th Degree Assault, and Disorderly Conduct (Brawling of Fighting). He was convicted of the assault charge and the other two charges were dismissed. He served two days with 28 suspended. He was still on probation for this charge at the time of the hit-and-run.
This incident could have killed any citizen of North Minneapolis. You, me, one of our children. It could have killed the people who come to visit us in our neighborhood. This outrageous decades-long Northside crime wave needs to stop. This blog supports Don Samuels for mayor but I would be happy to see any mayor who promises to DO SOMETHING about all the crime in our neighborhood.
We do not lack the resources to stop crime. With enough shot spotters, enough cameras, enough cops and (perhaps most of all) enough probation officers, Northside crime could be reduced to a mere remnant.
But what appears to stop us from wiping out crime like smallpox is a crippling political correctness which somehow translates into no-account shitbags like Perry B. Atkins being allowed to frolic around free as birds, ultimately killing a 70-year-old grandmother in the presence of her grandson.
This shitbag Perry B. Atkins was ON PROBATION. So where was a probation officer to make sure this guy with no valid driver's license wasn't, oh gee, driving? Driving here, there, and everywhere on his suspended license?
Rumor has it Mee Lor was a Hmong immigrant who survived refugee camps and spoke limited English, but was beloved by her large extended family. Word is she never broke a law in her life.
I am not able to confirm this rumor. But certainly her name "looks Hmong"and at least one online resource lists "Lor" as a Hmong name.
I would hope that the life of an elderly Hmong woman is not worth less than anybody else's life. So I hope there is no plea bargain in this outrageous murder-by-vehicular-recklessness and Perry B. Atkins goes away for a long, long time.
I'd bet he was stoned as hell, although it couldn't be proven now. The fact is that a lot of his generation thinks it's perfectly acceptable to drive around every single day high as a kite. Cops routinely let them off with a warning despite the obvious reek of weed when they wouldn't let them off with a warning if the car smelled like a distillery. Driving high is illegal and should be prosecuted more often.
ReplyDeleteNo need to publish this, as it is mostly an FYI, but Lor (Lauj) is indeed a Hmong name, and Mee is a fairly common given name in the culture. There are 18 Hmong "last names," that denote one's clan affiliation. Spelling and pronunciation may alter slightly depending on whether one is Hmong Green or Hmong White, but there are just 18 "last names."
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear of this loss of a woman who likely survived the crossing of the Mekong under fire, and also for the Lee (Lis) clan, who lost both a son and a daughter in one afternoon to an abusive husband in St. Paul (though the young man who was murdered was a very sweet NoMi kid).
Of course I'm going to publish your comment. Thank you for your thoughts.
ReplyDeleteThis woman deserved to live to 100. But we can be thankful she lived as long as she did and survived her time as a refugee to live in America. Though her death was terrible, we can take comfort in the fact she was not alone crossing a street but was in the presence of her beloved grandson. She did not die alone. And because of the good work of the police, the perpetrator (alleged) was caught.
The problem might be argued to be not enough prison beds and staff, nor halfway houses under probationary monitoring. Catch and release works for fish. Not crime.
ReplyDeleteIn some countries, if it is a life that you take it shall be a life that will repay. Luckily this does not imply to US. Common cause of hit and run is either causing an accident with while driving with suspended, revoked or invalid license. Drunk driving is also pointed out as one of its cause. These 3 factors are all considered felony or if not misdemeanor depending on the count of offense that was made. Sometimes it is a frustrating fact that the law implements lighter penalties for some grave causing offense in the road.
ReplyDelete