EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — A 21-year-old man from Baltimore was hit by a car and killed in the early hours of Saturday morning after getting out of his own vehicle on Highway 169 in Eden Prairie, the Minnesota State Patrol said.
The fatal incident happened just after 4 a.m. in the northbound lanes of 169 at Anderson Lakes Parkway in Bloomington. Goucher College in Baltimore has identified the victim as Mapach Odolla, described as a rising junior in their soccer program.
"To put it simply, Pach was always happy, smiling, and a positive influence on his teammates and the Goucher community," reads a statement posted on the college's Twitter page. "Pach, you will be sorely missed."
State Patrol investigators say the Ford Focus, said to be driven by Odolla, came to a stop in the right lane and he got out. State Patrol said he was fatally struck by a Toyota Rav4 SUV driven by a man from Bloomington.
The driver of the Toyota was uninjured, according to the state patrol website, as was an 18-year-old woman from Heron Lake who was riding with Odolla.
A memorial fund started to pay funeral expenses and transportation costs for the popular student athlete has already raised nearly $15,000 of its $20,000 goal.
