Minneapolis, MN
Victim in downtown Minneapolis hit-and-run says police haven’t contacted him about crash
MINNEAPOLIS — The victim of a violent hit-and-run crash last month is out of the hospital and says he hasn’t watched the security footage of what happened.
“It was just green light, and yeah, that’s literally all I remember,” said Carl Vargas.
Vargas was tossed through the air like a rag doll in downtown Minneapolis when another vehicle blew through a red light and T-boned him.
“Everyone who’s seen the video and come to see me and talk about it, they are just like, eyes wide, ‘You are a lucky man,’” he said.
After the crash, the video shows two people getting out of the car and into another car that had been trailing behind. They drove off.
Vargas still can’t walk. Much of his daily life is a struggle.
“My ankle was completely destroyed,” Vargas said. “I had several head injuries like a skull fracture and a ruptured eardrum.”
Adding insult to the injuries, someone on the street stole Vargas’s phone and wallet while he was lying unconscious.
“Everything was lining up: school, got the job, got the bike, got the new place and then — life isn’t meant to be perfect,” he said.
Vargas says the crash has changed his perspective on life and he’s very grateful he wasn’t hurt worse.
He’s also not too concerned about catching the people who hit him and stole his wallet.
“Why am I even worried about it or thinking about it because who knows where they are?” Vargas said. “Who knows what they are? Who knows what I would even get if they were caught?”
Still, he says Minneapolis police haven’t talked to him once, and it was his family who canvassed the area to secure the surveillance videos.
WCCO asked the Minneapolis Police Department for an update on the case Tuesday and didn’t hear back.
Vargas says he plans to get back on the bike, and his focus is his health and school, which he returned to this week.
“That’s what everybody points out, ‘The people who did this, they have stuff coming to them,’ and I’d rather just know I was doing good, I’m still doing good,” he said. “That good has to come around eventually.”
Vargas says he hopes to be walking again in mid-October.
A Minneapolis man who pleaded guilty to murdering a high school student in 2022 was sentenced to nearly 30 years in prison on Monday.
It was the second time Cody Fohrenkam was sentenced for fatally shooting 15-year-old Deshaun Hill. He was convicted and sentenced to more than 38 years in prison in February 2023, but the Minnesota Court of Appeals later reversed the conviction and granted him a retrial based on illegally obtained incriminating statements.
Fohrenkam, 33, agreed to a plea deal as his second trial was set to start, pleading guilty to one count of second-degree intentional murder in exchange for Monday’s 340-month sentence. The judge presiding over the hearing gave him credit for 1,476 days already served.
Fohrenkam shot and killed Hill while Hill was walking to a bus stop just blocks from Minneapolis North High School, where Hill was a star quarterback and honor roll student.
One of Hill’s aunts said in a statement shortly before the judge sentenced Fohrenkam that her nephew was “full of life.”
“When he spoke, you listened. He had a soft spirit and a good heart,” she said. “Deshaun was an artist who, as you all know, he took his education seriously. He had dreams and goals. He worked hard to make his family proud.”
This story will be updated.
A man is now charged with murder after prosecutors say a robbery inside a Minneapolis apartment building ended in a fatal shooting.
Prosecutors say the man was on conditional release after being charged with first-degree armed carjacking for an incident in Minneapolis last September.
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The killing happened Feb. 24 inside the Abbott Apartments lounge area on the 100 block of East 18th Street, where police found an adult man dead from gunshot wounds after reports of a shooting.
Court documents state the victim and a friend went to the building to meet 20-year-old Abdirahman Khayre Khayre. A witness stated Khayre left the room several times and appeared to be stalling before three armed men entered and demanded property. The men were described as carrying two Glock-style handguns with extended magazines and an AR-style rifle. During the robbery, the suspects demanded a Louis Vuitton bag belonging to the victim. When the victim resisted, a struggle broke out. The witness stated that two guns were taken from him during the robbery.
The witness told investigators Khayre was handed one of the stolen guns and then pointed it at him, causing him to flee into the lobby. Moments later, multiple gunshots were heard. The witness returned and found the victim shot. Surveillance footage from other areas of the building reportedly corroborated key parts of the account, and the witness later identified Khayre in a photo lineup, according to the complaint.
PREVIOUSLY: Man Shot and Killed Inside Minneapolis Apartment Building
Authorities say Khayre was on conditional release at the time of the killing in a separate Hennepin County case involving a September 2025 armed carjacking.
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In that earlier case, prosecutors alleged Khayre and others confronted a woman in a garage near 19th Street and Nicollet Avenue, pointed handguns at her and forced her to give up the keys to a Dodge Challenger before fleeing in the stolen vehicle. Officers later located the vehicle and arrested multiple suspects, including Khayre, who was identified as the driver.
Court records show Khayre posted a $75,000 non-cash bond and was released under conditions requiring him to remain law-abiding, have no possession of firearms or ammunition, avoid alcohol and controlled substances and complete treatment.
Khayre is now charged with second-degree murder without intent while committing a felony and first-degree aggravated robbery. He made an initial court appearance Friday, where a judge set bail at $1 million. If convicted of second-degree felony murder, he faces a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison.
The homicide investigation remains ongoing. Authorities have not yet released the identity of the victim. Anyone with information is asked to contact Minneapolis police by emailing policetips@minneapolismn.gov or calling 612-673-5845. Anonymous tips can also be submitted through CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or online. Information leading to an arrest and conviction may be eligible for a financial reward.
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