PORT ANGELES — Charges are expected to be filed today against a Port Angeles man who allegedly backed his pickup truck into another man he had been arguing with, sending the man into a nearby ditch.
Todd Baker, 49, said Tuesday that his backing into David Bauman, 49 of Port Angeles on the afternoon of Sept. 11 was an accident.
“I was backing up and didn’t see him,” said Baker, who described Bauman as a friend.
Baker turned himself in to the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday after deputies announced they were looking for him that afternoon.
The incident happened at about 4 p.m. at a home on South Alder Lane about a mile south of U.S. Highway 101, according to Sheriff’s Office accounts.
Bauman suffered a severely broken ankle, a head laceration and other injuries after he was struck by Baker’s truck, according to deputy accounts.
Baker was booked into the Clallam County jail for investigation of one count of vehicular assault last Thursday and released on his own recognizance Friday with instructions to appear in Clallam County Superior Court today at 1 p.m.
In a Tuesday interview, Bauman said Baker is a friend of his and that Baker did not intend to hit him.
“I don’t think he did it on purpose,” Bauman said.
Bauman said he, Baker and a number of others were attending a wake for a friend at the Alder Lane home.
An incident report filed by Undersheriff Ron Peregrin said Baker and Bauman were asked to leave because they were arguing.
Bauman was standing on the driveway near where it meets Alder Lane. Baker had driven north on Alder Lane from the home when he reversed his truck, backing diagonally across the driveway and striking Bauman.
Struck Bauman
The rear of the truck struck Bauman’s right side, causing his head to hit the tailgate and throwing him into a ditch on the south side of the driveway.
Baker reportedly got out of the truck, yelled at Bauman and then drove away.
Bauman told police he did not recall exactly what happened that afternoon but remembered being asked to leave the gathering and being struck.
“[Bauman] said that he recalled Baker being at the gathering, but he said they were not at odds with each other,” Peregrin wrote in the incident report.
Baker’s truck was found and seized Sept. 12.
It had damage to the tailgate and a rub mark on the rear bumper.
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Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.
