Pierce County driver arrested after police say he intentionally drove into young man

A 39-year-old man accused of intentionally hitting a young man with his car during an altercation in Tacoma has been charged with assault in the first degree, Pierce County records show.

The driver pleaded not guilty Monday at an arraignment in Pierce County Superior Court. His bail was set at $250,000.

The victim was unconscious when police arrived at South 59th and Yakima Avenue on July 11 and has been hospitalized with a traumatic brain injury, according to an affidavit released by the court.

Two people were walking with the victim that day when a purple car approached, the affidavit says. The witnesses told police that the driver said he was looking for three people who had punched a friend of his at a bar and that he had a gun.

After a confrontation, the three juveniles began walking away. The driver then accelerated toward the group and hit the victim, the affidavit says. The driver first told officers that he had hit the victim with the car, but then said he was “not sure how he came about running one of them over.”

According to the affidavit, there is no evidence that the three young men were involved in the earlier bar incident with the driver.

Officers found fingerprints and handprints “smeared and dragged” along the hood of the car the defendant was driving. The jury trial is scheduled for Sept. 2.

This story was originally published July 15, 2020 at 12:34 PM.