Charge: Woman driving again without license fatally hits pedestrian in St. Cloud and leaves

Driving yet again without a license, a woman fatally struck a man on foot near a central Minnesota intersection, drove home and called 911, according to a criminal complaint.

Cadee Celeste Campbell, 21, of Sartell, Minn., was charged in Stearns County District Court this week with failing to stop after causing a fatal crash — a felony — in connection with Sunday’s wreck in St. Cloud.

Campbell was arrested on the day of the crash and released Wednesday ahead of a hearing on March 17. A message has been left with her attorney seeking a response to the allegations.

Police on Thursday identified the victim as Robert Joseph Thomas, 54, from Parker, Colo.

At the time of the crash, Campbell was behind the wheel with a revoked driver’s license, according to a state Department of Public Safety spokesman.

Going back about 2½ years, Campbell has been convicted nine times for driving with her license either revoked or suspended, according to court records.

In that same time span, Campbell also has been convicted three times for driving without insurance, twice each for speeding and driving with illicit drugs in the vehicle, and once for careless driving, the records revealed.

“There’s a problem with people driving with revoked and suspended licenses,” Police Chief Jeff Oxton said Thursday. “There’s a reason they have those statuses, and that’s why we try to stop people when we see those things. … It’s unfortunate.”

According to the criminal complaint:

A motorist waiting at the intersection of Hwys. 23 and 15 said she saw the man walking across the southbound lanes of Hwy. 15 “in an area where there was no crosswalk.” The vehicle hit him and drove off, the complaint read.

Campbell called 911 and said she was the driver involved in the crash. Police went to her home, and she admitted that she knew she hit a pedestrian and left the scene.

She explained that she kept going because she had her child in the vehicle with her.