Published: October 24th 2026.
MINNEAPOLIS: A 49-year-old man has been charged with a felony following a September hit-and-run crash in Minneapolis that left two people seriously injured.
Jerome William Darkow faces one count of criminal vehicular operation causing great bodily harm after allegedly leaving the scene of a September 27, 2026, collision, according to a criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County District Court.
According to the complaint, Minneapolis police responded to a hit-and-run crash near 11th Avenue North and Girard Avenue North. The collision caused significant damage, requiring emergency personnel to extricate occupants from the vehicles.
One victim suffered a lacerated spleen and a fractured hand. A second victim sustained more extensive injuries, including a fractured skull, brain bleed, multiple spinal fractures and a fractured femur.
Investigators obtained surveillance footage that allegedly showed a pickup truck traveling westbound on Glenwood Avenue before turning north onto Girard Avenue North.
According to the complaint, the pickup made a U-turn near Humboldt Avenue North before returning to the intersection of Girard Avenue North and Glenwood Avenue. At approximately 11:42 a.m., the pickup allegedly began making another U-turn after several vehicles passed through the intersection.
Surveillance footage reportedly showed the victims' vehicle attempting to avoid the pickup by moving into the westbound lanes. However, the vehicles collided while the pickup was still completing the turn.
The complaint states that police located the pickup shortly afterward near 11th Avenue North and Emerson Avenue North, less than a mile from the crash scene. Officers observed significant front-end damage.
Investigators traced the vehicle's registration to a Faribault County towing company. The company provided information identifying Darkow as the driver of the pickup, according to the complaint.
Police also obtained photographs and surveillance footage from nearby residents that allegedly showed Darkow abandoning the damaged vehicle and fleeing the area on foot. Investigators noted that the person in the footage was wearing a distinctive black sweatshirt that Darkow had reportedly worn two days earlier.
Authorities located Darkow on Thursday, October 22, 2026, and took Darkow into custody in connection with the investigation.
The felony charge carries a maximum possible sentence of five years in prison, a $10,000 fine, or both if convicted.
The allegations contained in the criminal complaint have not been proven in court, and Darkow is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.