A 23-year-old Centralia man was arrested Monday after allegedly crashing into a woman who was on an electric scooter and then leaving the scene, according to the Chehalis Police Department.
Gabriel A. Smith is facing two counts of vehicular assault, three counts of reckless endangerment and one count of hit-and-run.
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 an electric scooter being struck by a vehicle.
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.”
With assistance from the Centralia Police Department, Smith was located and arrested at his residence without incident.
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.
