A reported altercation in an elementary school parking lot on Saturday night led to a traffic accident in which Erie police accuse a Wattsburg man of intentionally striking another man with his vehicle, then backing over him.
The accused driver, William M. Pierce, 25, was arraigned over the weekend on charges including felony counts of aggravated assault by vehicle while driving under the influence and aggravated assault in an incident that Erie police said happened on Saturday at about 11:15 p.m. in the 1500 block of West 38th Street.
According to Erie police, they received multiple calls about a person struck by a hit-and-run vehicle at Grover Cleveland Elementary School. Officers arrived to find a 27-year-old man laying in a grassy area next to the school. Witnesses gave police a photo of the hitting vehicle’s license plate, which came back to a 2013 Hyundai, Erie police Deputy Chief Rick Lorah said Tuesday morning.
Police wrote in the criminal complaint filed against Pierce that witnesses said Pierce intentionally struck the victim at least twice with his vehicle because the victim had insulted Pierce’s girlfriend, who is the cousin of the victim.
According to witnesses, they and Pierce had been drinking at a downtown Erie tavern on Saturday night, the investigating officer wrote in the complaint’s affidavit of probable cause. After leaving the tavern, Pierce was driving the group to another tavern when an argument broke out over Pierce’s reckless driving, and Pierce pulled into the Grover Cleveland Elementary School parking lot to let some of the car’s occupants out, according to information in the affidavit.
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While in the parking lot, Pierce and the victim reportedly got into a physical altercation, and Pierce reportedly reacted by striking the victim with his vehicle, sending the victim over the hood of the car, the investigating officer wrote in the affidavit. Pierce then reportedly exited the vehicle and struck the victim four times in the face, and as Pierce was in the process of leaving he reversed the vehicle and hit the victim a second time, with the wheels of the vehicle going over the victim, according to information in the affidavit.
The victim was taken to UPMC Hamot for treatment, Lorah said. Information on the man’s condition was not available Tuesday morning.
Pierce was taken into police custody in Lawrence Park Township on Sunday night, according to Erie police arrest records.
Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNhahn.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: After a fight, Wattsburg man charged with striking victim with car
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