A 23-year-old Centralia man was arrested Monday after allegedly crashing into a woman who was on an electric handicap cart and then leaving the scene, according to the Chehalis Police Department.
Gabriel A. Smith was charged Tuesday in Lewis County Superior Court with three counts of second-degree assault, one count of reckless driving and three counts of hit-and-run.
Despite having no convictions on his adult record, family support in the courtroom and strong local ties, the state asked Judge James Lawler to set Smith’s bail at $50,000.
“He is a danger to society in general,” Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead said of Smith during a preliminary hearing on Tuesday.
“$50,000 is more than reasonable. I’m surprised that’s all that was requested,” Lawler said Tuesday, granting the bail request.
Officers were dispatched to a parking lot in the 1600 block of Louisiana Avenue in Chehalis at about 7:10 p.m. Monday to a report of a hit-and-run involving a woman on a handicap cart being struck by a vehicle, according to the Chehalis Police Department.
As officers arrived, they found a 79-year-old Chehalis woman being treated for injuries.
“Witnesses reported the vehicle was traveling northbound in a shopping center parking lot near the front of the store at a fast rate of speed when it struck an elderly woman who was in the middle of the crosswalk driving an electric scooter,” the Chehalis Police Department stated in a news release. “Another witness stated she was crossing in the crosswalk with her two children when one of them was almost hit, and a male stated he was crossing in the crosswalk when he was struck by the vehicle. He declined aid for his injuries. It was also discovered the driver struck a parked vehicle, causing damage.”
The man reportedly told responding officers “the only thing that prevented him from being run over was everyone yelling about the vehicle,” according to court documents. He reported he was struck in the back of the leg and hit the vehicle’s windshield with his arm as he tried to avoid the vehicle.
Staff at a nearby business identified the driver of the vehicle as Smith, who the staff member said was a former employee. Smith’s driver’s license photo reportedly matched witness descriptions of the driver.
Surveillance footage from the business shows a woman and her children crossing the street and shows the woman “push one of the children out of the way as the vehicle appeared,” according to court documents. Another vehicle then reportedly swerves to the left to avoid Smith’s vehicle, causing a second vehicle to swerve to avoid a collision.
With assistance from the Centralia Police Department, Smith was located and arrested at his residence without incident, according to the Chehalis Police Department.
When questioned, Smith allegedly said, “I know I hit something or someone’ and ‘I know I took off,’” according to court documents. He also allegedly “further advised that ‘it was me.’”
The 79-year-old woman was transported to a hospital for treatment but did not appear to have life-threatening injuries, according to Chehalis police.
“The state has not yet been able to contact (the woman) to verify her injuries,” the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office stated in charging documents filed Tuesday afternoon. “The charging information will be updated once her injuries have been ascertained.”
Smith’s arraignment hearing was scheduled for Thursday, April 18.
