Alleged Distracted Driving Blamed For Joggers Death

BUFFALO, Minn. (AP) — A driver accused of striking and killing a student athlete running along a Wright County road is charged with criminal vehicular homicide.

Nineteen-year-old Phillip Gregory Lavallee was about to start his sophomore year at South Dakota State University when he was killed last August on county Road 19 in Otsego. Lavallee was on the track and cross-country teams at the university and was an all-state athlete at Monticello High School.

The St. Cloud Times reports a criminal complaint says 68-year-old Linda Gullickson swerved out of her driving lane, across the other lane and hit Lavallee from behind. The complaint says Gullickson received a phone call from her husband about the same time as the crash. The call went to voice mail.

Online court records did not list an attorney for Gullickson.

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