EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. — Madison County prosecutors on Friday charged the driver accused of striking and killing Brooklyn police Officer Brian Pierce Jr. on the McKinley Bridge earlier this month.
Authorities said Caleb L. Campbell, 22, was speeding away from Illinois police in a Dodge Charger around 3 a.m. Aug. 4 when Pierce attempted to lay out spike strips on the bridge to stop him.
Campbell struck Pierce and fled into Missouri, where he is currently being held on unrelated charges, police said.
Madison County State's Attorney Thomas A. Haine said Campbell faces charges of first-degree murder, failure to report an accident involving injury or death, reckless homicide, failure to stop after having an accident involving personal injury or death, and aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer.
Court records in Missouri say Campbell has previous felony convictions for resisting arrest and weapons offenses. An attorney has not yet been listed in his current case.
Pierce had been working the night shift for the Brooklyn Police Department for roughly nine months and was making the drive every day from Carbondale, Illinois, and working a second job as a lieutenant at the Makanda Fire Department.
His colleagues at the Brooklyn Police Department described him as a happy person who always arrived to work early to start his shift.
At the fire department, Chief Jim Bilderback said Pierce was dependable and always ready to help.
"He was Johnny on the spot," Bilderback said. "If there was something needed, he'd get it done."
