Andrew Hyde, killed by car thief in Minneapolis crash, remembered as “beautiful dad,” classic car lover

By JASON RANTALA

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    MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A Twin Cities woman says her husband died in a classic car he truly loved.

Andrew Hyde was killed in a crash at North Washington and 21st avenues in Minneapolis last week. A memorial now stands where he lost his life.

Police say a thief driving a stolen Hyundai slammed into his 1964 Chevy Impala.

Andrew’s wife, Kierra, says her husband was a wonderful man who was loved by everyone. His passion was classic cars, and he died last Tuesday inside his favorite car.

“He loved that car almost more than me,” Kierra said. “He loved the car.”

Andrew loved Impala “drop-top” convertibles so much, he owned three of them.

Nicknamed “Punky,” friends and family recently held a balloon release in his honor. Kierra says her husband loved walking their dogs every day, and served as a mentor to young men.

“He just was a beautiful dad,” she said. “Very hands on.”

But now Kierra is left with questions, and frustrations.

“These cars that they’re just stealing, they’ve got to do something about these cars. They’ve got to do something. He didn’t deserve this,” she said. “You know, it shouldn’t be so easy to steal a car and take someone’s life like this.”

Kierra says she’s received almost no information from police since the accident.

“No one’s come to me and told me anything. No one’s just talked to me. I don’t know anything,” she said.

The person responsible for the crash fled the scene. Her ask now is that they turn themself in.

“You can’t hide from the Lord, so I’m not really worried,” she said. “But I do hope that there’s justice for my husband.”

She takes comfort knowing Andrew is in a better place.

“My husband’s in heaven, out of this broken world,” she said.

Kierra and Andrew have five children together. She says she doesn’t know what they’re going to do without him, but that his memory is going to live on through them.

WCCO reached out to the Minneapolis Police Department Sunday, and they say they have no new information they can share.

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