Credit River hit-and-run suspect charged with attempted murder, assault

Prior Lake American

A St. Paul man has been charged with first-degree attempted murder and second-degree assault in connection to an alleged April 29 hit-and-run in Credit River Township.

Timothy Lee Biby, 45, was arrested in St. Paul by Scott County Sheriff's deputies on May 10 on suspicion of second-degree assault. According to charging documents, Biby was allegedly attempting to kill his ex-wife's boyfriend.

According to the statement of probable cause:

The victim, 18-year-old Prior Lake resident Grant Skluzacek, told police he left a friend's home in Lakeville around 10:45 or 11 p.m. on his motorcycle that night. He said he noticed the vehicle enter a roundabout and follow him north, though it was about four to five car lengths behind him.

Skluzacek told police that he did think it was strange the vehicle continued to follow him. At one point, he said he no longer saw the vehicle's headlights and assumed the car had turned onto a different road.

Skluzacek said he then heard a loud noise of a vehicle revving its engine and that he was then struck from behind and slid down the road as the vehicle drove away. Skluzacek suffered a fractured wrist, large gouges on his arms and road rash on his torso, calves, shoulder and kneecaps.

Minnesota law requires a driver involved in a car crash to stop their vehicle when safe and remain at the scene of the accident, even if the driver is not at fault.

Scott County Sheriff's Office deputies were called to the intersection around 11:06 p.m. on April 29 to respond to a call that a male on a motorcycle had been struck by an unknown vehicle that continued driving. Deputies found a blue piece of plastic in the motorcycle's rear wheel.

The piece of plastic was then matched to a 1999 Honda Accord. A detective tracked down the registered owner of the Accord, who said he sold it on April 24 to Biby.

Detectives went to Biby's home on May 4 and saw a 1999 blue Honda Accord outside with front-end damage. Detectives found Biby outside the home, smoking a cigarette.

Biby told police he is the only driver of the vehicle and that on April 29 he worked until 10 p.m. and came straight home. He said the damage on the car was present when he bought it. Detectives asked about the blue piece of plastic, which matched the damage found on the car in Biby's driveway. Biby said he no longer wanted to speak to the police.

Later that evening, detectives received a call from Biby's ex-wife, who told police that she had received a letter from Biby that indicated his involvement in the hit-and-run.

"I tried to kill your boyfriend," Biby allegedly wrote in the letter. "I was going to the casino and decided to drive by the condo. It's the first time I've ever done that. I was hoping you would be outside with Jax. I saw a guy leave on a bike and I lost it...Anyway, I hit him with my car. Turns out he was a high school kid. I hurt an innocent kid. I can't live like this. Hey, at least I finally quit smoking..."

Jax is the ex-wife's dog. The ex-wife told police that Biby might have known her boyfriend drove a motorcycle from Facebook posts. Biby is under a domestic abuse no contact order to prohibit him from contacting his ex-wife.

Biby was then arrested and allegedly admitted to investigators that he wrote the letter.

Biby faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for the attempted murder charge and 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine for the second-degree assault charge. His first court appearance will be Friday at 8:30 a.m.

Rachel Minske contributed to this report.