$17,000 Restitution Ordered in Rochester Hit and Run Case

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - An Austin man won't be required to serve any additional time in jail but he has been ordered to pay more than $17,000 in restitution for crashing into another vehicle and a building in Rochester while driving a pickup that had been reported stolen.

According to court documents, evidence of drug use was found inside the stolen pickup after the incidents in the early morning hours of November 4, 2023. The criminal complaint filed against 31-year-old Austin Joshua Mortenson in Olmsted County Court indicates the first crash was a hit and run involving another vehicle at the intersection of West Circle Drive and Fox Valley Drive Southwest.

The other motorist told Rochester police that she was transporting two passengers when her vehicle collided with a pickup truck traveling at a high rate of speed. The motorist indicated the other driver did not stop. The police report on the incident says the woman and the other occupants of her vehicle were treated for minor injuries.

Court documents say that, while law officers were at the scene, they were informed of another crash that occurred about a block away. The responding officers found an abandoned pickup truck matching the description of the vehicle involved in the first crash had smashed into a brick building.

The criminal complaint states that police searched the vehicle and found pieces of burnt tinfoil and documentation belonging to Mortensen. A witness to the crash was able to ID Mortensen as the person he saw fleeing the scene on foot.

The court document indicates investigators contacted the registered owner of the pickup, who indicated he had loaned the vehicle to a friend and the friend had reported it stolen.

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Mortenson was charged with a felony count of receiving stolen property, gross misdemeanor criminal vehicular operation, along with misdemeanor counts of careless driving and leaving the scene of an accident. He recently entered into a plea agreement and admitted to the gross misdemeanor criminal vehicular operation charge in exchange for the dismissal of the other charges.

The Austin man was sentenced to two years on probation. He was also given a one-year jail sentence, but the majority of it was stayed for the duration of his probation and he was given credit for the 90 days he had already spent in jail.

The sentencing order also requires three restitution payments that total about $17,600.