A driver appeared to purposely hit a pedestrian in Bangor, leaving the man with multiple broken bones, according to court records.
Larry Kelley, 47, of Winterport, had his first appearance in Penobscot County Superior Court on Monday, where he is charged with one felony count each of elevated aggravated assault, reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon, aggravated driving to endanger and leaving the scene of an accident involving serious bodily injury.
Kelley was allegedly driving a red Kia Soul around 3:45 a.m., July 5, near the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter, 263 Main St., when he hit a 45-year-old man who is homeless, according to a Bangor police report filed in court. The pedestrian sustained broken vertebrae, a broken hip socket and injuries to his knee, the report said.
Video footage of the crash, provided by the shelter, shows Kelley turn off Main Street onto Cedar Street when the pedestrian walked into the road, toward the vehicle, according to Bangor police. The driver then appeared to “steer into [the pedestrian] for a short period of time,” before correcting his steering and driving off.
A witness told police the pedestrian was in the opposing lane from the vehicle.
The pedestrian was “thrown a substantial distance” from the impact and was taken to the hospital, the report said.
A woman who was a passenger in the vehicle and got out after the crash. She told police the driver “swerved to go run over this dude,” and that the driver had been drinking, the report said. The woman was asked if Kelley was on his phone or messing with the radio. She said the driver “scoffed” and before going to run over the pedestrian.
Using the vehicle’s license plate number, Maine State Police found the vehicle at Kelley’s home in Winterport. The Kia Soul had damage to its hood when police arrived, Bangor police said.
In an interview with police Kelley first said he hit a deer. He then said, according to court records, that he felt threatened by someone who charged at his vehicle holding a “boulder or a rock,” and that he was defending himself. Kelley told police he had milliseconds to decide because he thought he was going to be hit in the face.
The pedestrian and witnesses said they did not know Kelley, and he said he did not know them, according to the police report. However, Kelley had a run in with the pedestrian and witnesses earlier in the day.
The driver of the Kia Soul tried to pick up “a girl on the side of the street,” at the Dollar Tree on Hammond Street earlier that day, and a witness said she tried to tell him to leave, which escalated into a verbal argument, the report said. Kelley then hit the woman in the face and tried to drive into the group of people multiple times, they told police.
Kelley said he was assaulted earlier in the day by that group of people, which included witnesses to the crash, the report said.
Police said they would get security camera footage from the dollar store, but the report does not detail what happened in that footage.
The pedestrian said he went in the road toward the vehicle because he was trying to “spook” the driver away, the report said.
Kelley was granted a $5,000 cash bail, which he had not posted as of Tuesday afternoon. If he posts bail, he will be on house arrest, according to court records. He is scheduled for a court appearance on Oct. 8.
