Police seek driver who fled after car hit pedestrians

Thursday, June 26, 2008
Officers check over the scene where two men were struck by a car in the Stardust Hills subdivision Wednesday evening. Meanwhile, medics are treating the men in the background.

CLOVERDALE -- The Cloverdale Police Department and Putnam County Sheriff's Office are investigating an apparent hit-and-run crash that sent two men to the hospital Wednesday evening.

Officers believe the two men, identified as 17-year-old Brett Elwood and 19-year-old Wade Davis, both of Cloverdale, were intentionally struck by a car on Stardust Way near the north entrance of the subdivision at around 6:30 p.m.

Cloverdale Officer Charlie Hallam told the BannerGraphic that a witness at a home near the crash scene reported hearing the car's engine revving and then saw it strike the two men before leaving the scene.

Elwood appeared to have suffered the most serious injuries and was taken, via Lifeline helicopter, to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. Hallam said Elwood reported pain in his right leg, back and neck and had cuts on his head.

Davis, according to Hallam, reported leg pain as well as back pain and numbness in his face. He was taken, via Operation Life ambulance, to Putnam County Hospital.

Officers tracked the car they believe was involved in the crash -- a gray 1996 Chevrolet Corsica four-door -- a quarter-mile west of the entrance to the subdivision where they found it abandoned in a driveway.

Hallam said the car showed strong evidence to suggest it is the vehicle involved in the crash, including a broken windshield and damage toward the rear of the vehicle. The car was taken to the sheriff's department impound lot where it will be searched Thursday for evidence

"Overall, the evidence indicates this is possibly the vehicle involved in this crime," Hallam said.

As for the driver, Hallam said the injured men told him who they thought the driver was, however, he could not be located following the accident. Police are concealing his identity at this time.

Bystanders at the scene told Hallam they believed the suspect may be armed with a gun and that he may have been hiding in a nearby woods. Hallam said he was not able to confirm whether the suspect had a weapon. The suspect is facing a preliminary charge of leaving the scene of an accident causing serious injury, but more charges could be filed.

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  • They will find the driver,, only a matter of time.

    -- Posted by Xgamer on Thu, Jun 26, 2008, at 5:57 AM
  • Might be nice to know who this person is, especially if they are suspected of having a weapon. Why are they not releasing this identity?

    -- Posted by cty-govt-a-muck on Thu, Jun 26, 2008, at 7:27 AM
  • They can't just release a name on someone they "think" it is. If they name the person and its not him, that person could file lawsuits against them. Like Xgamer said...they will find the driver!

    -- Posted by sickofitall on Thu, Jun 26, 2008, at 8:44 AM
  • to outofcontrol, how do you know there wasn't a search. Just because it isn't stated in the newspaper doesn't mean it didn't happen. Get a grasp and quit making stupid comments like that.

    -- Posted by magoo55 on Thu, Jun 26, 2008, at 10:51 AM
  • Terry,

    If you are going to call names, please spell them correctly as you are the one who looks in poor light now.

    Let's not be critical of each other.

    -- Posted by opinion on Thu, Jun 26, 2008, at 1:28 PM
  • Please be respectful of others and try to stay

    on topic.I didn't read much of that in these

    comments..

    -- Posted by luv your comments on Thu, Jun 26, 2008, at 3:11 PM
  • You know its a travesty, two people get hit by a person that was under the influnce of god knows what, and all people can do is gripe and complain at eachg other for making comments about a newspaper article. Lets look at it this way, Star Dust Hills, hmmm..... A neighborhood, that is densly populated by a mixture of people, and lets face it some of the people arnt the best of people, heres a suggestion Neighborhood Watch Group?? Maybe that would help take some pressure of the Nine-Odd Cloverdale Police Officers. Lets Face it, if they didnt have to spend as much time patroling Stardust Hills as they currently do, they would be able to help clean up other areas of Cloverdale, and maybe help Curb some of the Drunk Drivers coming and going from the Bar down the road from the Nursing Home. If that happens that could help end alot of problems in and around Cloverdale. Lets look at another thing, Cloverdale fire department, Superb Bunch of people, they go above and beyond every time, And I think alot of people take advantage of that I think its time people start helping the fire departments out more. THroughout the county... What ever happened to Generous people bringing Fire Fighters Bottled Water during and after fires, making them meals, and being their for them after tough ones.... Lets stop thinking about out selves and start striving for the comunity.

    thanks.

    -- Posted by Eagle78 on Thu, Jun 26, 2008, at 8:34 PM
  • Did they ever find the guy who ran from the scene ? Just wondering.

    -- Posted by Scripted Spontaneity on Fri, Jun 27, 2008, at 10:23 AM
  • Hey Terry, words that people can't even spell don't effect me at all. It is spelled stupid, stupid.

    -- Posted by magoo55 on Fri, Jun 27, 2008, at 10:44 AM
  • Eagle78 is right, the township department does think they are above all others and certainly go beyond the realm of decency . Nothing like asking for more in an article on an accident. Maybe when they stop patting themselves on the back one of them can borrow a book, dictionary preferred, to look up the meaning of volunteer.

    luvyourcomments - sorry for getting off topic

    -- Posted by J Davis on Sat, Jun 28, 2008, at 9:06 PM
  • to whomever thinks there wasnt a search.....there was. i know a family in stardust that had the cops come to there house. the police told the mom that they knew her son hung out with the suspected driver. they explained what was going on and asked her to search her house for the suspect. the mom declined and told the cops she would feel better about the situation if the cops would search her house. they did and found nothing.

    i dont know how much searching they did but they did hit one house and i am sure there were others. the boy has been caught and the kids hurt are at home and doing fine. thanks for all u who prayed for them. which looks like it was none of YOU!!!!

    -- Posted by badboy46120 on Thu, Jul 3, 2008, at 8:42 AM
  • We live in Stardust Hills..it is a very nice place to live..of course we have a few bad apples and they make for bad news..but it is people from other areas of the county and city of Cloverdale that come thru our area that cause a lot of the trouble..Stardust Road is a short-cut for the people cutting over to Burma Road this causes a lot of traffic thru Stardust Hills.

    -- Posted by Saralee on Thu, Jul 3, 2008, at 5:03 PM
  • To whoever wrote the comments about CTFD needing to look up words in the dictionary such as volunteer: maybe you need to look up words such as ungrateful, stupidity, selfish and dumb! Next time you wreck your car, your house is on fire or you need medical attention for whatever reason, just remember it is those VOLUNTEER Firefighters who will respond out of the goodness of their hearts to help you, not out of the money they make. We should all pat them on the backs. People like you are the reason we need volunteers because one can only assume from your uneducated comment that you are the person standing around with your thumb up your butt when other people are leaving their personal lives to help someone they dont even know! I hope you never need assistance for any reason because frankly I wouldnt mind if not a single volunteer shows up for YOU!!!

    -- Posted by WTFRUthinkin on Sat, Jul 5, 2008, at 6:04 AM
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