One of the accidents listed in the police reports Tuesday morning was a hit-and-run accident. A pedestrian who was walking along the roadway in the 700 block of Meadow Creek Drive was killed. Police said the accident occurred around 11:20 p.m. on Monday. The victim was identified as Vivian Hoffmann, who is 67 years of age and lives at 711 Meadow Creek Dr. Hoffmann was a clerk at the Quik Shoppe convenience store located four blocks from her home on the corner of Meadow Creek Drive and Gladsen Boulevard. Hoffmann was a widow whose husband Gary died five years ago. There were no witnesses to the accident but this morning, three days after the accident, police announced the arrest of a suspect in the case. The suspect is Todd Burnes, a 27-year-old …show more content…
Police charged Burnes with vehicular manslaughter, fleeing the scene of an accident, failure to report an accident, failure to render assistance and filing a false police report. Burnes was driving a tan unmarked police car when the accident occurred. Kopperud said the investigation is continuing and charges are pending against police detective Marlene Griffin, a 10-year veteran of the police department. Griffin is 32 years of age and lives at 3130 Joyce Dr. Griffin is facing charges of conspiracy, aiding and abetting a crime and filing a false police report. Griffin was the detective who was investigating the hit-and-run accident that killed Hoffmann. According to the police report, Burnes was responding to a reported car accident and was driving west on Meadow Creek Drive when his police vehicle apparently struck Hoffmann as she walked along the road. There are no sidewalks or streetlights and the road is narrow along the wooded section of Meadow Creek Drive where the accident occurred. Burnes told investigators that he did not see the victim but heard a loud thump. He said he thought he hit a dog or deer or something but did not stop to check because he was hurrying to respond to the accident