Black Felon Strikes and Kills White Pedestrian with His Car, Flees the Scene

Pierre Jerel Anderson.

They knew each other, so it was almost certainly a murder.

Brainerd Dispatch:

A pedestrian was fatally struck in the Blaine Target parking lot late Wednesday, Jan. 15, by a convicted felon who then fled the scene. Investigators later arrested a suspect after a foot chase.

The pedestrian — Kenneth Alan Niesen, 58, of Brooklyn Park — and the suspect — Pierre Jerel Anderson, 30, of St. Paul — were likely familiar with each other before the incident, said Anoka County sheriff’s office Cmdr. Wayne Heath.

“This wasn’t a person leaving the store or just walking in the parking lot,” Heath said. “There are some other parts to this that we’re trying to piece together.”

At 9:34 p.m., Blaine police and the Spring Lake Park-Blaine-Mounds View Fire Department were called to the store at 1500 109th Ave. N.E. on a report of a pedestrian hit by a vehicle that left the scene, the sheriff’s office said.

Officers gave medical aid to Niesen, who was taken by Allina ambulance to Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids. He died of his injuries at the hospital.

Anderson was located by sheriff’s office deputies in Ham Lake and was taken into custody after a foot chase, Heath said.

Anderson was booked into the county jail early Thursday on suspicion of second-degree murder, according to the jail log. Prosecutors have until noon Friday to either formally charge or release him, Heath said.

Kenneth Alan Niesen.