FORKS — Bail of $100,000 was set Monday for a Forks man who allegedly crashed a truck he was driving Oct. 14 before he fled and the vehicle was consumed by flames.
A passenger in the truck broke a bone in his face during the wreck, according to the arrest report.
Clallam County Superior Court Judge Erik Rohrer set the bail for Marshall C. Petrovich, 27, at lower than the $150,000 bail requested by Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Steven Johnson, who cited Petrovich’s prior convictions for hit-and-run, reckless endangerment and aiming a firearm at a person.
He was arrested Saturday for investigation of vehicular assault, hit and run-unattended property and making false statements to a law enforcement officer.
Formal charges are expected to be filed by Wednesday, when Petrovich has a 1 p.m. court appearance, Johnson said.
Petrovich, a resident of the 1400 block of Merchants Road in Forks, crashed the 1987 Ford F-350 truck he was driving at about 1:25 p.m. Oct. 14 in the 1300 block of Merchants Road, according to the arrest report.
An investigation determined the truck was traveling between 42 mph and 52 mph in a 25-mph zone, at one point riding solely on its two right-side wheels before crashing into a patch of alder trees on private property, according to the report.
Petrovich was arrested six weeks later at the Forks police station after earlier denying any involvement in the crash.
“Marshall explained that he had been driving the Ford F-350, heading to his mother’s house and that he had lost his memory of the event on that day,” according to the arrest report filed Saturday.
County sheriff’s deputies and Forks Fire Department personnel responded to the wreck at about 1:25 p.m. Oct. 14 and found it “fully engulfed in flames” on the shoulder of Merchants Road, the report said.
Witnesses identified Petrovich and passenger Aaron Krume as the truck’s occupants.
Krume, who initially could not identify the driver, was not in the truck when emergency personnel arrived, Sheriff Bill Benedict said Monday.
“He really couldn’t make a statement that night,” Benedict said.
“He was injured fairly substantially at the time.”
Krume was taken to Forks Community Hospital with a broken bone in the eye-socket area.
Petrovich was not at the site of the crash, having run to his home, according to the arrest report.
“There were inconsistent statements and it took a search warrant to get information from both the hospital in addition to this Krume guy,” Benedict said.
“He had head injuries, apparently.
“His memory improved over time because he identified the driver.”
Benedict said the vehicle had been loaned to Petrovich and Krume.
When interviewed initially by Sheriff’s Deputy Gene Hoagland, Petrovich denied leaving his home and said injuries he had sustained were the result of a prior incident, according to the report.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@ peninsuladailynews.com.
