By Shawn Hogendorf, Staff Writer 

Armando Velasquez, 20, of Faribault was sentenced to serve 57 months in prison by Dakota County Judge Timothy McManus in connection with a fatal hit-and-run that killed a 32-year-old Prior Lake man at the Event Center parking lot in Burnsville on April 5.

Velasquez was also ordered to pay restitution in an amount to be determined.

Velasquez pleaded guilty to one count of criminal vehicular homicide in August.

Police believe two others were also associated with the crime.

Martina Narvaez previously pleaded guilty to aiding an offender, a felony, for assisting Armando Velasquez in his attempts to avoid arrest. Similar charges to those Narvaez pleaded guilty to are pending against Armando Velasquez’s brother, Francisco Javiar Velasquez.

Burnsville police officers were dispatched to the Event Center on Cliff Road for a report of a fight that resulted in a hit and run, with a person injured at about 2 a.m. on April 5.

The victim, later identified as Carlos Eduardo Noriega, was transported to the Hennepin County Medical Center and later died. Two groups had been in a confrontation inside the Event Center prior to leaving and the confrontation continued outside of the building.

Witnesses told police that two groups had been in a confrontation inside the Event Center. One group was from the Faribault/Owatonna area, while the other group was largely from the Burnsville area.Armando Velasquez

Toward the end of the evening, Event Center security separated the two groups and moved the Burnsville group out the front door and the other group out the side door.

Two members of the Faribault/Owatonna group were identified as Armando Velasquez and his brother Fransisco Javiar Velasquez. A woman associated with the Faribault/Owatonna group, Martina Narvaez left the Event Center and was seen getting into a red Mercury Marquis automobile with distinctive large chrome wheel rims.

Narvaez brought the vehicle to the side door of the Event Center where the Velasquez brothers and two of their associates were leaving the center. Witnesses told police two members of the Faribault/Owatonna group removed their shirts and began throwing beer bottles at the Burnsville group, which also threw beer bottles and produced baseball bats.

The Velasquez brothers and their friends jumped into the red Mercury Marquis, which drove through the parking lot toward the Cliff Road exit. However, the vehicle was seen making a u-turn, driving back through the parking lot, driving over a median in a parking lot.

Witnesses stated that the Mercury Marquis then accelerated and drove toward Noriega. Noriega was hit with the front end of the car and thrown into the air. The Mercury Marquis then sped out of the parking lot towards the Highway 13 exit.

Nine days later, the Burnsville police located the vehicle which had hit Noriega, hidden in a garage of an associate of the Velasquez brothers. The large distinctive chrome wheel rims had been removed and disposed of. Police were later able to trace those rims to a purchase made prior to April by Armando Velasquez and his mother’s boyfriend in Minneapolis. The front end of the vehicle showed signs of hasty bodywork and sanding.

Armando Velasquez later admitted to police that he was driving the car when it struck the victim. “We are pleased to have brought the defendant to justice for this violent crime,” said James Backstrom, the Dakota County attorney.  

 Shawn Hogendorf can be reached at (952) 345-6374 or shogendorf@swpub.com.