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A Warsaw teenager was arrested Monday for leaving the scene of a truck rollover in August in which he was injured.
Taylor Edward Cassel, 19, of 701 E. Center St., #7, Warsaw, was arrested and booked into the Kosciusko County Jail at 8:11 p.m. Monday for failure to stop after an accident involving bodily injury, a Class A misdemeanor. His preliminary bond was set at $500.
According to court documents filed Sept. 4, on Aug. 16 a Warsaw Police officer was dispatched to a loud noise that came from Lucerne Park, 800 N. Park Ave.
When another WPD officer arrived at the park, he saw a red Ford Ranger that had rolled on its passenger side. He saw a man leaving the scene and headed south through the nearby woods. Police began searching the area to find the man.
A Winona Lake Police Department officer saw a vehicle driving south on Park Avenue that had a passenger in it matching the description of the man police were searching for. The vehicle was stopped in an alley. After talking with the passenger and driver, police learned the passenger was involved in the accident that occurred at Lucerne Park.
The passenger, Anthony Leal, told police he was a passenger in the red Ford Ranger that was found at Lucerne Park. He said he and Cassel were out driving around the area “having a good time” when they drove down by Lucerne Park, according to court documents.
Leal said Cassel made too sharp of a turn and the truck rolled over. He said he left the truck and headed back to Lance Kats’ apartment and had given Kats a phone call to pick him up. Leal did not know where Cassel was and did not provide police with Cassel’s phone number.
Kats told police he received a call from Leal to pick him up. The WLPD officer learned Kats’ driver’s license was suspended and cited him for driving while suspended. Leal was allowed to drive the vehicle back to Kats’ residence.
While officers were working the scene of the rollover, officers learned the driver of the Ranger had checked into the emergency room at Kosciusko Community Hospital.
Cassel’s mother told an officer the vehicle did not have insurance on it and that her son was the owner.
During officers’ interview with Cassel, he said he spent the day at Kats’ house with Leal. He said Leal wanted to go out for a drive. He said they drove down to Lucerne Park and were doing doughnuts in the gravel, according to court documents. Cassel said he lost control of the vehicle during one of the doughnuts and felt the truck start to roll on its side and rolled over completely.
Cassel said he did not know what to do next and was scared, so he got out of the truck and headed north to Pike Lake Apartments and called his mom. He said he vomited and blacked out a few times before his mother arrived.
A warrant for Cassel’s arrest was issued Sept. 13.
Damage to the vehicle was estimated at $5,000 to $10,000, according to a police accident report.
