Marshfield Man Accused of Hitting a Pedestrian Appears in Wood County Court
Tuesday, June 16th, 2015 -- 1:08 PM
-A Marshfield man charged with hitting a pedestrian with his vehicle and leaving the scene appeared in Wood County Court on Monday for a motion hearing.Robert Purkapile is accused of hitting a man with his pickup truck at the intersection of North Central Avenue and Arnold Street in Marshfield on November 7th around 9:30pm. Purkapile's blood-alcohol content was .229%, more than double the legal limit.
When an officer responded to the scene, a red pickup truck was pointed out to her. When she noticed it, the truck began to drive away. She followed Purkapile and stopped him and he told the officer he was aware that he hit someone and he drove away because he was scared. The pedestrian suffered fractures to his skull and pelvis. He also had lacerations, a chipped vertebrae and a concussion.
Purkapile has been charged with causing injury by drunken driving and hit-and-run causing great bodily harm and he's pleaded not guilty to the charges. During the motion hearing, the defense tried to determine if the victim had been jaywalking, but the judge decided there wasn't enough evidence, so the motion was denied. Purkapile is scheduled for a jury trial in August.
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