A St. Paul man carjacked an SUV and hit two teenagers in a Minneapolis crosswalk on Monday, according to a criminal complaint.
Steven Ross, 48, of St. Paul, is charged with two counts of criminal vehicular operation. He is also charged with simple robbery, according to the complaint.
Around 2:15 p.m. Monday, police were notified of a stolen vehicle near the intersection of East 26th Street and 17th Avenue South in Minneapolis, the complaint said.
Ross stole a Toyota Rav 4 after breaking into the vehicle and briefly struggling with the driver over the keys, according to the charges. He smashed into multiple parked cars as he drove off in the stolen vehicle.
Ross then ran a red light and hit two teenage pedestrians at the intersection of Lake Street and 17th Avenue, the charges say.
A 19-year-old woman was thrown into a bakery window frame on the corner of the street. The other pedestrian, a 14-year-old boy, went through the bakery window and landed inside the building. Authorities say Ross almost hit the woman a second time as he fled the scene.
KSTP-TV said the teens were identified by their father as Cecilia and Jacob Speranzella.
Cecilia suffered a brain injury and Jacob received multiple broken bones and lacerations, according to the charges and their father, Joseph Speranzella, who said on social media that the siblings were on the way to the bakery to get ice cream cones. Both remain hospitalized.
After the crash, Ross hit a police car with the stolen SUV on Lake Street. The incident resulted in a pursuit that ended when Ross crashed the vehicle into a light pole near Lake Street and 20th Avenue South. The SUV caught fire, and police had to pull Ross from the vehicle.
Ross told police he had used crack cocaine and marijuana and consumed alcohol the day of the incident, the complaint said.
Ross is being treated at a hospital for his injuries and is currently in police custody.
