Driver dies 10 days after being hit in St. Cloud by motorist fleeing law enforcement, charges say

A motorist has died 1 ¹⁄₂ weeks after sustaining injuries in a collision in St. Cloud with a driver who left a trail of damage while fleeing law enforcement, according to officials.

An amended criminal complaint filed last week now charges Samuel Z. Butler, 28, with criminal vehicular homicide among five other felonies in connection with the three-vehicle crash on Dec. 12.

The driver, a man, was taken by emergency responders to St. Cloud Hospital, died 10 days later and has yet to be identified by officials. He remained unconscious the entire time since the crash and suffered two broken legs and a severe head injury, the charges against Butler noted.

Butler, of Albany, Minn., appeared in court Friday and remains jailed in lieu of $250,000 bail ahead of a March 3 hearing. Butler's attorney was not immediately available to comment.

Other charges filed against Butler include two counts of fleeing law enforcement, criminal vehicular operations, auto theft, felony property damage and a petty misdemeanor drug count.

Court records show that Butler has been in trouble with the law throughout his adult life. He's been convicted eight times for drug offenses, five times for driving on a suspended license and once each for offenses involving a weapon, assault, auto theft, violating a no-contact order, shoplifting and theft.

According to last week's charges:

The sergeant activated his emergency lights in St. Cloud after Butler pulled into a Kwik Trip gas station parking lot at County roads 4 and 120, but Butler got back on County Road 4 and fled south.

Butler abandoned the SUV on Glenview Loop, stole a pickup with a trailer from a construction site and knocked over a streetlight while resuming his flight, workers there said. The sergeant looked in the SUV and saw evidence of illicit drug use.

About 11 a.m., a police officer spotted the stolen pickup speeding in Sartell, turned on his emergency lights and pursued the truck south on Hwy. 15. Butler drove off the road, through a grassy area at N. 14th and 32nd avenues and ran into several trees and shrubs, then hit numerous vehicles in an apartment complex.

Butler got back on the road, sped through stop signs and hit an SUV at the intersection of N. 36th Avenue and N. 10th Street in St. Cloud, then struck a Chevrolet Silverado pickup. Butler kept going until he hit a tree in front of a nearby home.

The SUV driver was taken by emergency medical responders to St. Cloud Hospital with what proved to be fatal injuries. The charges made no reference to any injuries suffered by the Silverado driver.