Greenville man charged in hit and run

Published 4:11 pm Tuesday, June 11, 2013

An automobile accident left one Greenville man with a broken ankle and another facing a host of criminal charges.

The Greenville Police Department has arrested and charged James Powell, 48, with endangering the welfare of a child, reckless endangerment and leaving the scene of an accident after the vehicle he was occupying was involved in a hit and run on June 5, according to police.

According to Lt. Justin Lovvorn, Powell was a passenger in a car being driven by his 14-year-old daughter when the car struck a pedestrian near the intersection of Field Street and Harrison Street.

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When officers arrived on the scene, they found the pedestrian injured on the side of the road. He was treated at the scene and transported to L.V. Stabler Memorial Hospital where he was treated and later released.

Officers then located the vehicle park in a cluster of bushes off the roadway and traced the vehicle back to Powell.

“He admitted to owning the vehicle and told us that his daughter had been driving,” Lovvorn said. “We started investigating and determined that he was in the vehicle at the time of the accident and that the juvenile was driving, but that the teen did not want to continue driving. When she refused, we believe that (Powell) stepped in the pedal and jerked the wheel, which created the accident.”