BANGOR – The driver of a sport utility vehicle has been charged with leaving the scene of a Dec. 13 accident that broke a pedestrian’s leg.

Police said Tanya Stewart, 20, told them she was the driver of a white 1995 Nissan Pathfinder that struck Stanley Rolfe, 56, of Bangor as he was crossing a downtown intersection just after 5 p.m.

“She said she just freaked and panicked because she only had a driver’s permit, so she got back into her vehicle and took off,” said Detective Clifford Worcester.

Stewart told police she was turning left from Hammond Street onto High Street but did not see the man. She said he was wearing dark clothing and the lighting was poor, Worcester said. Stewart told Rolfe she was going to call police but then sped off toward Union Street toward her home.

Rolfe told police he had tried to turn out of the way when he realized the SUV was going to hit him but was struck on his right side. He suffered a broken leg and was taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland for surgery, Worcester said.

During surgery, Rolfe suffered a stroke. It could not be learned Sunday what caused his stroke.

Rolfe was discharged from the hospital by Sunday; it was not immediately clear whether he had been transferred elsewhere or released to go home.

Witnesses gave Bangor police a description of the woman and her SUV along with the first four numbers of her license plate.

Investigators with the Maine State Police determined that the vehicle belonged to Timothy Russell of Bangor, police said. An examination of the vehicle found a broken plastic light cover with a missing screw on the left side of the vehicle, where it allegedly struck Stanley.

Russell initially told police that no one had driven the vehicle, that no one lived with him and that he had bought it with the damage already present, Bangor police Officer Douglas Moore said. Russell eventually admitted, however, that Stewart lived with him and she in turn admitted to the accident.

Stewart also was charged with violation of an instructional permit because she had been driving the Pathfinder without a licensed passenger with her. She will appear in 3rd District Court in Bangor on Jan. 10.