Attorney: Senser's wife drove car in hit-and-run

Amy Senser, the wife of former Minnesota Viking Joe Senser, was driving the family's car when she struck and killed a pedestrian last week, according to the family's attorney. The identity of the driver involved in the hit-and-run accident had not been revealed until today.

Anousone Phanthavong, 38, had walked down the ramp that leads from westbound Interstate 94 and to Riverside Avenue was apparently filling a car with gas when the oncoming vehicle struck and killed him on August 23.

Senser's attorney, Eric Nelson, said the Senser family has been cooperating with law enforcement officials for the past few days. Nelson said there are "many complex and overlapping issues" in regard to the case that made it "inappropriate to relase the name of the driver until this time."

Amy Senser, 45, has not been charged, according to her attorney, nor has there been a plea agreement reached with prosecutors. The Sensers are parents to four daughters and have one granddaughter.

"The loss of Mr. Phanthavong's life has weighed heavily on Ms. Senser and her entire family," Nelson said, adding that the family extends its sympathies to those affected.

Jim Schwebel, the attorney for Phanthavong's family, had been urging the Senser family to identify the driver.

"It would have been much better if they would come forth without putting the taxpayers of the state of Minnesota and the State Patrol, and us, through the work of determining who the driver was," Schwebel said.

Schwebel says he plans to file a lawsuit against Senser on behalf of the victim's family. Schwebel says the victim's family is grieving and wants to know what happened. "They want justice. You know, these folks are like anybody who suffers the loss of a loved one," he said. "They want the individuals who caused the death to be held accountable."