A pedestrian was fatally struck in the Blaine Target parking lot late Wednesday by a convicted felon who then fled the scene, authorities said. The suspect was later arrested 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.”
Niesen worked alongside his brother, Korey, at Bonded Transmission Specialists, a St. Paul business at University and Beacon avenues that their father, Walt, started in 1983.
At 9:34 p.m., Blaine police and the Spring Lake Park-Blaine-Mounds View Fire Department were called to the Target 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 arrested after a foot chase, Heath said.
Anderson was booked into the county jail early Thursday, according to the jail log. He was charged Friday with second-degree murder, according to the sheriff’s office.
In a statement, Niesen’s family said he was a “wonderful son, brother, husband, father, and friend to everyone he met. Words cannot express our grief. Our family asks for privacy as we mourn this tragic loss.”
Like his father before him, Niesen was a former motorcycle drag racer who competed several years on the National Hot Rod Association circuit, said friend Rick Ward. Walt Niesen died in November.
In 1995, with Kenneth Niesen as the crew chief, Ward won the NHRA pro stock U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis.
“He was a good racer and an all-around great guy,” Ward said. Niesen’s two sons, Wyatt and Max, recently started competing in the sport, Ward added.
Anderson has a lengthy criminal record in Minnesota that dates back to 2007 and includes felony convictions for auto theft, simple robbery, possession of a pistol/assault weapon, possession of burglary/theft tools, theft and fleeing police in a motor vehicle. He has been convicted of driving after revocation 20 times.
The case remains under investigation by Blaine police, the Midwest medical examiner’s office and the Anoka County sheriff’s office.
