On March 22, 2025, around 4:30 P.M., Rochester Police Officer Robert Turner #2626 was dispatched to the area near North Broadway and 13th Ave. NW for a report of an injured pedestrian. Officer Turner spoke to an adult man, fully identified in the reports, who appeared to be in pain from visible injuries. This man will be referred to as "Victim" herein. Victim [NAME REDACTED] was struck by a maroon Pontiac G6 as he was walking near the intersection west of Broadway. The Pontiac pulled out of the alley, struck him, and then fled the scene without stopping.
Victim mentioned that he hit his head on the concrete and had scrapes on his hands and knees. Victim [NAME REDACTED] in his head, hands, and ribs. Victim ended up going to the hospital by ambulance where he stayed overnight. Victim sent an e-mail to Officer Turner on March 23, 2025, stating that he sustained injuries to his neck, a bruised lung, and four fractured ribs. An adult man at the scene, fully identified in the police reports, saw the Pontiac strike Victim. This man will be referred to as "Witness" herein.
Witness told Officer Turner that he was waiting to cross Broadway when he saw the Pontiac hit Victim [NAME REDACTED] on 13th Street NW without stopping after striking the pedestrian. Police officers were able to examine footage from various surveillance cameras, including a camera from a nearby Midas Muffler business. On March 28, 2025, Officer Turner reviewed the video footage that revealed the license plate number for the Pontiac. The license plate number was associated with a 2008 Pontiac G6 owned by Joshua Dean Plut, the defendant herein.
On March 29, 2025, Officer Turner attempted to contact Plut at his home address. He spoke to Plut's girlfriend who said Plut was at work for the day and that the red Pontiac belonged to Plut. On March 29, 2025, Officer Turner made contact with Plut by telephone. During the phone conversation, Plut admitted that he owns the Pontiac G6 and that he is the only person who drives the car. Plut admitted that he was driving on March 22, 2025. Plut remembered driving through the alley behind Midas Muffler.
Plut remembered that he was smoking a cigarette and said that he dropped his lit cigarette. Plut said he reached down to pick up the cigarette and thought his "car hit a curb or something but nothing more." After Officer Turner explained that the collision with Victim [NAME REDACTED], Plut stated "If I do remember, I think the person hit the side of my car." Plut indicated that there was already damage on the front of his car from previous accidents. Plut has two prior driving-while-impaired related convictions within the past ten years: ••-CR-••-••••; convicted of driving with an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more; March 27, 2021 ••-CR-••-••••; convicted of driving while under the influence of alcohol; March 26, 2019 NOTE: According to his police report, Officer Turner promptly submitted his reports for referral to the County Attorney's Office around March 29, 2025. On January 2, 2026, Officer Turner submitted a supplemental report stating that it came to his attention that this case showed a status of "active patrol follow-up." He contacted the department records technician, Sandy Schultz, who explained that Officer Turner's report had originally been placed in a status of "patrol follow-up due to a DWI sub-document being required." Apparently, the "system" seemed to think that additional DWI documents were required before 2 ••-CR-••-•••• Filed in District Court State of Minnesota 1/23/2026 the case could be submitted for charging.
