PORT ANGELES — A Clallam County Superior Court judge has dismissed a vehicular assault charge against a man who drove his car into a Port Angeles grocery store in May and injured a store clerk.
Superior Court Judge Brooke Taylor ordered the dismissal of the single count of vehicular assault against Brice G. Mbili-Ambamba on Wednesday morning, said John Troberg, deputy Clallam County prosecuting attorney.
Mbili-Ambamba, 25, drove his car into Grandview Grocery at the corner of Eighth and C streets May 15.
Shanna Menlove, a 22-year-old clerk working in the store, suffered an injury to her ankle after she was pinned between debris and the car.
Stan Myers, Mbili-Ambamba’s defense attorney, argued that the prosecution did not have enough evidence to prove the defendant showed anything more than ordinary negligence when his car hopped a parking berm in the Grandview Grocery parking lot and drove into the building, Troberg explained.
More than ordinary negligence is necessary for the felony charge, Troberg said.
“I accept the judge’s ruling,” Troberg said.
Port Angeles police said Mbili-Ambamba drove over a cement parking barrier in the grocery’s parking lot at 7 p.m. May 15 and continued through the store’s east wall and into the checkout and coffee bar areas of the building.
Menlove was taken to Olympic Medical Center in a private car after two people extricated her from the building debris.
Police later arrested Mbili-Ambamba, a native of Cameroon, for investigation of drunken driving and vehicular assault and misdemeanor charges of making false statements to a law enforcement officer and driving without a valid driver’s license or identification.
Below legal limit
Troberg said he did not pursue the drunken driving charge since Mbili-Ambamba’s blood-alcohol content was 0.05 percent, three-hundredths of a point below the legal limit.
Although Troberg said he would have liked to pursue the case in Superior Court, based on the fact the grocery clerk was injured, he said he cannot justify asking for a Superior Court jury trial for only two misdemeanor charges.
District Court next?
Another prosecuting attorney could, however, pursue the misdemeanor charges in District Court, he said.
Myers said no motion has been made to shift the case to District Court, as far as he knows.
Mbili-Ambamba is in the Clallam County jail on $10,000 bond.
Jim Cromer, owner of Grandview Grocery, said he was glad no other clerks working at the store at the time were hurt.
Menlove has recovered from her injury and is back to work at the store, Cromer added.
“We’re just happy nobody was hurt a lot worse,” Cromer said.
He was able to reopen the store a day after the collision after temporary repairs were made.
Cromer’s insurance paid the roughly $10,000 in permanent repairs, which, minus some paint and a new cigarette rack, are all but complete.
“Other than that, everything’s finished,” Cromer said.
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Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.
