OCEAN CITY — A Virginia man was arrested on hit-and-run and other serious charges last weekend after allegedly spinning out of control and striking a pedestrian in the sidewalk before fleeing the scene.
Around 5:15 p.m. last Saturday, Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officers responded to the area of 30th Street and Philadelphia Avenue for a reported pedestrian struck by a vehicle. OCPD officers attended to the pedestrian, who was later transported to Atlantic General Hospital with injuries not believed to be life-threatening.
Witnesses in the area told police the pedestrian was struck by a Dodge Ram truck with Wisconsin license plates with broken tail light. Witnesses told police the truck was in the southbound turn lane at 30th Street when the driver, later identified as Bradley Falls, 34, of Triangle, Va., attempted to make a U-turn by accelerating the vehicle, causing the wheels to spin. Falls allegedly lost control of the vehicle, ultimately striking a pedestrian who was standing on the public sidewalk nearby. OCPD officers observed fresh skid marks on the roadway, which corroborated the witness reports of the incident.
According to witnesses, Falls than traveled south in the northbound lanes of Philadelphia Avenue. Moments later, he traveled north past the scene where the pedestrian was injured on the sidewalk. According to police reports, numerous Good Samaritans in the area yelled for Falls to stop and attempted him from leaving the scene, but Falls fled northbound away from the crash site.
An OCPD officer observed a vehicle matching the description of the Dodge truck in the area of 45th Street traveling at a high rate of speed. The officer followed the vehicle as it entered the 45th Street Village and eventually came to a stop in a condo parking lot at 46th Street. The officer approached the stopped truck and observed the driver matching Falls’ description getting out of the vehicle.
The officer also observed Falls and two other occupants inspecting the damage to the rear tail lamp of the truck. One of the occupant was holding parts of the damaged tail lamp, while another was holding a bottle of rum, which he was attempting to conceal under his T-shirt.
According to police reports, pieces of the tail lamp matching the description of the Dodge truck were found at the scene of the pedestrian collision. A witness from the scene was brought to the 46th Street parking lot and positively identified the truck and Falls as the driver during the collision.
Falls exhibited signs of intoxication and a breath-alcohol test revealed a reading of .20. Based on the evidence, Falls was charged with during under in the influence and driving while impaired and under the influence, leaving the scene of an accident involving injury and numerous other traffic violations.
