A motorist accused of intentionally running down a pedestrian in Minneapolis over the weekend is now charged with second-degree murder.
Tristen Baier, 20, of Minneapolis was initially charged with attempted second-degree murder for striking 37-year-old Roberto Bernabe Cortez with his van on Saturday, but the charge was upgraded after Cortez died Monday evening, according to a news release issued by the Hennepin County attorney’s office.
Baier made his first appearance Tuesday afternoon in Hennepin County District Court. His bail was set at $1 million and he remained in custody at 4 p.m.
Minneapolis police were called to East 28th Street and Portland Avenue South on Saturday night, where they found Cortez suffering from severe head injuries and Baier being restrained by witnesses, according to the criminal complaint.
Cortez was transported to a hospital with multiple skull fractures and bleeding on his brain, while Baier was arrested, the complaint said.
A witness, identified in the complaint as P.B.C., told investigators he had come out of his house earlier that evening to find Baier smashing the windows of a car with a baseball bat. Baier later identified the car as his girlfriend’s, and said he was breaking the windows because he was angry about a fight they’d had, the complaint said.
P.B.C. said he chased Baier away from the car, but Baier got into his van and drove at P.B.C., who said he jumped out of the way. Baier ran his van into a parked vehicle before driving away from the scene, the complaint said.
P.B.C. told investigators that Baier returned to the scene about three minutes later and drove into a crowd of people examining the damage to the vehicles, striking Cortez, the complaint said. Baier got out of his van and was tackled by witnesses, who held him down until police arrived, court documents said.
“The defendant admitted that he … intentionally ran over the victim because he was angry,” the complaint said.
A second-degree murder conviction carries a minimum sentence of one year and one day, and a maximum sentence of 40 years. Officials were not releasing Baier’s booking photo as of Tuesday afternoon.