Star Trib article on hit and run

Deaf woman is hit, injured in Apple Valley; driver sought

By ABBY SIMONS, Star Tribune
March 7, 2009

As Joan LeVasseur lay in a coma Saturday, family members pleaded for the driver who slammed into her and drove away to do what's right.
Apple Valley police say LeVasseur, 26, was crossing Cedar Avenue at the intersection of 153rd Street shortly after 9 p.m. Friday when an unidentified vehicle -- which witnesses described as a tan van, sport-utility vehicle or large sedan -- hit her in the crosswalk. She was listed in critical condition at Hennepin County Medical Center Saturday night.

Although several witnesses saw the crash, none could identify the vehicle or a license plate number, said Sgt. Joe Shaw of the Apple Valley Police Department. The van's front end may have been damaged when it hit LeVasseur, Shaw said.

Her mother, Patty Boever, who had moved her deaf daughter from school to school in search of the best education possible, wept as she described how a life of accomplishment could be derailed in a horrible instant.
"We work hard all our lives to keep our children safe and someone just does this and drives away?" Boever said, her eyes red-rimmed with exhaustion and tears. "This is insane. Don't people have a heart?"

LeVasseur's sister-in-law, Lori LeVasseur, said she suffered severe head trauma, including brain injuries, along with multiple fractures in her legs, pelvis, ribs and right hand. She remains in a deep medically induced coma.
Lori LeVasseur said her sister-in-law, who was engaged to be married, had recently embarked on a mission to lose weight. When she needed cat food Friday night she decided to walk the few miles to Cub Foods from the home she shared with her fiancé. Family members believe she had already bought the cat food and was circling back to pick up another item when she was hit.

"Joan was 26, responsible, and walked a lot. Everywhere," Lori LeVasseur said. "You wouldn't know she was deaf."

According the state Department of Public Safety, 33 pedestrians were killed and 957 injured after being struck by vehicles in 2007, the most recent year for which statistics are available. It was the highest number in three years.
Nearly 4 percent of pedestrian crashes result in death, compared to 1 percent of traffic crashes.

Members of LeVasseur's family huddled together outside HCMC Saturday afternoon, describing her as an animal lover who never turned away a stray. They continue to wait for LeVasseur to pull through, and plead for any witnesses -- or culprits --in the hit-and-run to come forward, if only out of decency for a young woman with so much ahead of her.

"Accidents happen and we need to do the right thing. We're hoping someone responsible for this will come forward," said Joan LeVasseur's stepfather, Robert Boever. "There's a lot of broken hearts asking for someone to come forward. Please."

Anyone with information regarding the incident is encouraged to contact the Apple Valley Police Department at 952- 953-2700 or the Dakota County Communication Center at 651- 322-2323.
Abby Simons • 612-673-4921

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