ST. PAUL
A St. Paul teacher who allegedly ran over a 2-year-old in a parking lot has been charged with criminal vehicular operation and driving while intoxicated. His blood-alcohol level was 0.32, four times the 0.08 legal limit, according to a criminal complaint.
Hamjatta Baba Fofana, 52, a teacher of English as a Second Language at Farnsworth Aerospace PreK-8 Magnet school in St. Paul, was ordered by summons to appear in Ramsey County District Court on June 17.
According to the criminal complaint:
Police were called at 4:12 p.m. April 10 to 1311 Conway St. in St. Paul, where a Honda had just struck a toddler and left the scene.
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The family was rushing the crying girl to the hospital; she was missing a quarter-sized piece of her scalp and was covered in dirt.
The girl's father said he was in his garage and his daughter, Rosie Ortega, was playing behind him in a parking lot. Rosie's mother saw a car driven by a man later identified as Fofana hit the girl, and the father screamed for him to stop.
"The father ran to the driver's door and pulled on the Honda's emergency brake, and the mother pulled the girl from under the car," the complaint said. "The father tried to get the keys from the driver, but he was not able to because the driver had a considerable size advantage over him."
Fofana got out of the car and walked off. He then returned and drove the Honda east, parking it at 1319 Conway, the address of his apartment complex.
When police knocked on his apartment door, they got no answer. Three minutes went by. They kicked down the door and found Fofana lying on the couch, talking on the phone and laughing. His speech was slurred, and he smelled strongly of alcohol.
When he refused to comply with their commands, police used a Taser on him.
Fofana told police he had been driving home from his mother's house, where he had "maybe three beers." He had not seen the toddler. He said he hadn't opened the door for police because he was unsure what he should do.
A spokesman for the St. Paul Public Schools said that Fofana has been placed on paid administrative leave.
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Rosie Ortega was released from the hospital three days after the accident.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
