A man with a history of driving without a valid license is accused of being behind the wheel illegally again when he hit and killed a woman as she crossed the road to check her mail.
Bill La, 46, was charged on Jan. 14 in Stearns County District Court with criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the crash in Waite Park on June 5 that killed 84-year-old Genevieve Morgel Labuda.
La, of Waite Park, was charged by summons and is due in court on Feb. 9. Court records do not list an attorney for him. The Minnesota Star Tribune has reached out to La for a response to the allegations.
The criminal complaint noted that La has been convicted at least 11 times in Minnesota for driving after his license has been suspended or revoked by the state. At the time of the crash, La’s license status was revoked, the complaint read.
Labuda, of Waite Park, “enjoyed taking bus trips to the casino, yardwork, collecting clowns, traveling, listening to old thyme music and dancing to polkas, side-by-side rides up north, and cooking,” her online obituary read. “Genny will be remembered for her pickle roll ups.”
According to the complaint:
Shortly after 1:10 p.m., police were dispatched to the scene of a crash on County Road 147. A police investigator saw Labuda down in the southbound lane. Medical personnel soon pronounced her dead.
Three people traveling in the same vehicle said they saw La trying to pick Labuda up from the pavement. They said he told them that two other drivers had hit Labuda and not him.
