A motorcyclist with a long rap sheet remains jailed Monday in Scott County on suspicion of fleeing after running over and killing a 24-year-old woman serving in the Army National Guard.
The 33-year-old motorcyclist from Eureka Township in Dakota County is being held on suspicion of criminal vehicular homicide and driving after his license was revoked.
Authorities located the man at his home and booked him into jail Sunday afternoon. He has yet to be charged.
Mollie Mahowald, 24, was identified as the woman who was killed about 2:25 a.m. Sunday in the 9700 block of Main Street in downtown Elko New Market, a few miles from her home.
Mahowald was on the "side of the road" with other people when she was struck, said Police Chief Steve Mortenson.
Emergency responders attempted to revive Mahowald, but she was declared dead at the scene.
"My youngest daughter was holding her hand" until the end, said Pete Mahowald, Mollie's father.
The sisters had been visiting a friend in Elko New Market after being with other family members earlier that evening, Pete Mahowald said.
"We had gone home, and the younger ones were still back in town," said the father, who arrived back at the scene after Mollie had died.
"She was at the end of the driveway of the residence they were at," he said. "Her vehicle was right there."
The chief said investigators are looking into whether alcohol played a role in the crash. Mahowald was hit near several downtown bars shortly after closing time.
The suspect's motorcycle permit had expired in June, and he also had his standard driver's license revoked, according to the state Department of Public Safety.
The suspect's criminal history in Minnesota includes many convictions for speeding, driving without the proper license and other traffic violations. He's also been convicted of domestic abuse, terroristic threats, burglary and theft.
Mahowald, a graduate of New Prague High School, signed up for the Army when she was 17 and spent her 19th birthday serving in Iraq as a vehicle mechanic, her father said. She joined the National Guard in 2015 and was based out of the 1135th Combat Support Company in Faribault.
When not in uniform, Mollie Mahowald worked in a veterinarian's office and was studying to be a veterinarian technician.
While in Iraq for nine months in 2011 and 2012, she was within 100 miles of Baghdad, her father said. She spent another nine months in Afghanistan in 2013 and 2014.
Her intention was to stick it out with the military and "do the 20 years," he said. "She's made a lot of friends. They are a real tight group."
One of her fellow soldiers in Minnesota has designed a bracelet in Mahowald's memory with her name and rank over combat fatigue coloring and the words "Never Forgotten."
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
