Driver allegedly strikes pedestrian
A reportedly intoxicated motorist who allegedly struck a pedestrian and then fled the scene was arrested late Friday after a witness followed him to his apartment.
Sean Patrick Robertson, 39, of 164 Thornton Ferry Road, was taken into custody at his residence shortly before 11 p.m. and charged with felony counts of second-degree battery and leaving the scene of an injury accident, each punishable by up to six years in prison, and a misdemeanor count of driving while intoxicated.
Robertson was later released on bonds totaling $6,000 and is set to appear May 8 in Garland County District Court.
According to the affidavit, shortly before 9:30 p.m. Friday, Arkansas State Police Cpl. Chuck Riggs responded to a hit-and-run collision involving a pedestrian on Highway 270 just west of Highway 227.
The female caller, 34, stated a dark colored Ford pickup was eastbound on 270 and exited on the shoulder of the road, striking a pedestrian, identified as Christopher Vaughn, 32, and then continued on without stopping.
The caller followed the vehicle and advised dispatchers the pickup turned onto Thornton Ferry Road and then pulled into the Crossing Apartments, 164 Thornton Ferry. She noted she returned to the scene to check on the victim.
Garland County sheriff’s Sgt. Greg Kellar arrived on the scene with first responders and found Vaughn on his back in a gravel parking lot. He was complaining of pain in his back and arm and was transported by LifeNet to CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs as Riggs spoke to the caller.
Riggs, Kellar and ASP Cpl. Corey Ray then went to the parking lot of the apartment complex and found a pickup matching the description given by the caller, which included the license plate, parked outside building A. They noted the pickup had a broken passenger mirror, broken glass inside on the passenger seat and there were handprints in the dirt on the hood and markings on the side “indicating it had struck a person.”
The troopers then went to make contact with the suspect, knocking on his apartment door multiple times with no answer. The apartment manager came over and knocked on the door and was greeted by a female resident. She reportedly confirmed her friend owned the truck and she would get him.
Riggs then made contact with Robertson and another male roommate and noted both men had a strong odor of intoxicants on their breath. Robertson stated he had not had anything to drink since he arrived home. It was soon determined the other male roommate was the passenger in the pickup and still had broken mirror glass on his shirt.
The roommate could not give any details regarding the pedestrian being struck, but admitted both he and Robertson had been drinking at a friend’s house on Sunshine Road prior to traveling on Highway 270 to return home.
Robertson submitted to a portable breathalyzer test which registered his blood alcohol content at 0.18 percent, more than twice the legal limit. Riggs began to administer field sobriety tests, but Robertson reportedly stated he was “too drunk to pass the tests” and failed three of them.
Robertson was taken into custody and submitted to a second breathalyzer test at the Garland County Detention Center at 11:36 p.m. which registered his blood alcohol content at 0.19 percent.