CARLISLE, Pa. — Silver Spring Township Police have charged a suspect in a hit-and-run crash that injured a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation worker last month.
Dawson Smith, 19, was allegedly driving the gold Ford Ranger pickup truck that struck PennDOT worker William Layton on the morning of April 13, according to a criminal complaint affidavit filed by police.
Layton was working as a flagger on the 400 block of Rich Valley Road in Carlisle when he was struck by Smith's truck, police say. Layton suffered five broken ribs and four broken vertebrae in the crash, along with a partially collapsed lung. He was forced to undergo spinal surgery and will miss at least three months of work while he's recovering, according to police.
According to witness accounts and Smith's interview with investigators, the crash occurred when Layton attempted to stop Smith's truck after Smith had gotten into a verbal dispute with another flagger at the other end of the work zone.
The first flagger said he attempted to stop Smith, who was driving too fast through the work area. Smith allegedly "flipped off" the first flagger, who radioed Layton and told him to stop the truck, according to police.
Layton attempted to stop Smith's truck by walking toward it with his sign held horizontally, in an attempt to block the lane, police claim.
Smith told police he accidentally struck Layton while trying to swerve around him, according to the complaint.
Police say Smith contacted authorities about 10 hours after the crash to report that he was the hit-and-run driver, and submitted to an interview with investigators the next day at the police station.
Smith said he saw several news articles about the crash that included a description of his pickup truck. He "did not want to be running from police," so he decided to contact authorities, the complaint states.
Smith allegedly told police he was on the phone with a friend at the time of the crash. The friend advised him to contact police after Smith told him he had fled the scene.
Smith also told a supervisor at work that he had struck someone with his truck on the day of the crash, and the supervisor also advised him to contact authorities, police say.
Police say a search of Smith's phone indicated he had searched Google for "hit-and-run" posts after the crash, and had also searched for truck parts to replace those that sustained damage in the incident.
He allegedly told police he fled from the scene because he was "afraid the other workers were going to attack him."
Police noted that in his interview, Smith did not ask about the condition of the worker he had struck, the complaint states.
Smith is charged with aggravated assault, aggravated assault by vehicle, leaving the scene of an accident that caused death or personal injury, recklessly endangering another person, reckless driving, careless driving, and related traffic offenses.
He was arraigned on the charges and committed to Cumberland County Prison after failing to post $50,000 bail, according to police.
