Rosemount man charged after fatal hit-and-run

A Rosemount man has been charged with two felonies and a misdemeanor in connection with the March hit-and-run accident in Apple Valley that led to 26-year-old Joan LeVasseur's death.

But because investigators determined that the driver had the right of way and apparently wasn't speeding, her family's hopes that he would face more serious charges were dashed.

Eric James Hunter, 40, was booked into the Dakota County jail on Friday, charged with two counts of leaving the scene of an accident involving a death and one count of driving after license suspension.

"Only?" said LeVasseur's great aunt, also named Joan LeVasseur, of Rogers. "That would be a slap on the hand."

Jennifer LeVasseur was among those who had kept vigil at the hospital bedside of her niece, who went by the name Joanie, as she was dying. On Friday, that aunt also said she was disappointed that the charges weren't more serious.

"It's just shocking; he didn't even have a license," Jennifer LeVasseur said.

"If he wouldn't have been there -- and he shouldn't have been there," her niece might still be alive, Jennifer LeVasseur said.

According to the complaint outlining charges against Hunter, witnesses reported that LeVasseur, who was deaf, was crossing the street against the traffic signal that was displaying a "don't walk" light.

Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom said that was a factor in the decision to charge Hunter with leaving the scene of a fatal accident instead of the more serious criminal vehicular homicide, because pedestrians must obey traffic signals.

"If someone who causes a motor vehicle accident resulting in death flees the scene, the crime of criminal vehicular homicide is committed," Backstrom said. "However, based upon the accident reconstruction completed in this instance, the accident appears to have been caused by the victim crossing the street against a red light."

Jennifer LeVasseur said her niece could see fine, and she had no idea why the 26-year-old would have tried to cross against a red light.

Hunter had been at large since the accident, but police had tracked down his 2003 Ford Focus with damage to the right-front area, the hood and the windshield on March 11. A sample of blood collected from the car was analyzed by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and was determined to be that of LeVasseur.

According to the criminal complaint, Hunter's co-workers had seen his damaged car. While working an overnight shift on March 6 to 7, Hunter told one colleague that the damage was from an accident with a semitrailer truck in Lakeville.

A few days later, after hearing that LeVasseur was to be taken off life support, Hunter confessed to a co-worker that he had hit her, saying he didn't see her and that it was dark, the complaint said.

An accident reconstruction by the Minnesota State Patrol found that Hunter's car was going between 39 and 46 miles per hour at the time of the collision. The speed limit in that area of Cedar Avenue is 45 mph. The State Patrol also concluded that one of the main factors in the crash was that LeVasseur failed to obey the stoplight.

Hunter's bail has been set at $80,000 without conditions and $40,000 with conditions. His next court appearance will be Sept. 21.