Woman Charged for Allegedly Hitting Pedestrian with Vehicle Under the Influence Near Bemidji

Samantha Jackson (Credit: Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office)

A 44-year-old Redby woman is charged with two felony counts of criminal vehicular operation for allegedly driving a vehicle under the influence of drugs and colliding with a pedestrian who was walking alongside a Bemidji area road.

The collision happened on April 1 around 8 a.m. on Irvine Avenue near the intersection of Spruce Grove Lane. Samantha Rose Jackson told investigators she fell asleep, veered out of her lane, and struck the pedestrian.

Jackson admitted she is a fentanyl user and last used it around 11 p.m. on March 31. Deputies noticed Jackson displayed glassy eyes, a common indicator of fentanyl impairment.

Jackson was then arrested after she failed several field sobriety tests. Deputies also seized several tin foil bindles from Jackson’s vehicle, which Jackson said contained fentanyl residue.

Jackson made her first court appearance on the felony charges Wednesday in Beltrami County Court.

The pedestrian who was hit has not been identified, but according to the Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office, the victim is a 28-year-old man. The criminal complaint in the case says he was airlifted to a Fargo hospital and suffered a broken femur, internal injuries, and was suffering from brain bleed.