A driver left the scene of a late-night car crash in Brooklyn Center that killed a friend, authorities said Friday.
Taylor S. Horan, 22, died in the rollover about 12:10 a.m. Thursday on 57th Avenue N., near the top of the northbound exit from Hwy. 100, according to the State Patrol.
Horan, who had been in the back seat, was not wearing his seat belt and was thrown from the car, which hit a utility pole and a fence, Patrol Lt. Eric Roeske said. Horan died at North Memorial Medical Center, the patrol said.
One other passenger in the car was not injured, the patrol said.
The driver has yet to be located, and the patrol has possession of the vehicle, a 1995 gold Mercury Marquis.
"We wish the driver would come forward," said Horan's mother, Jeanine Daniels, who said she knows the driver only as James. The patrol declined to say anything about the driver.
Daniels said that Horan and the others -- all friends -- were heading east on 57th to her house and were just around the block when the crash occurred.
Wearing a seat belt was something "I lectured him on a million times," she said. She said her son had his share of trouble and "was struggling, but he kept going."
Another crash a month ago at almost the same spot killed two people. On March 5, a car ran a red light and hit another vehicle, killing Jessica Vallis, 21, of Brooklyn Center, and George Kaffey, 22, of Bloomington.
Yeng Vue, 21, of Minneapolis, has been charged with two counts of criminal vehicular operation in connection with that collision. A breath test at the scene registered Vue's blood-alcohol content at 0.182 percent, according to the charges.
PAUL WALSH
