A St. Johnsbury man has been convicted by plea agreement of deliberately hitting a homeless man with his car over a drug deal gone bad.
Ryan M. Hayes, 34, pleaded no contest to felony aggravated assault and guilty to misdemeanor unlawful mischief in Caledonia Superior Court on Wednesday. Judge Justin P. Jiron then sentenced Hayes to 6 months to 30 months — all suspended — except for 23 days in jail and seven days on the work crew.
Before reaching an agreement with prosecutors, Hayes had been facing a possible sentence of up to 25 years in prison and $23,000 in fines.
Caledonia Superior Court
The incident occurred on Nov. 10, 2021, at Jack’s Laser Car Wash at 215 Railroad St. in St. Johnsbury.
According to an affidavit filed by St. Johnsbury Police Capt. Jason Gray, Hayes and his girlfriend, Savannah Cole, 27, allegedly chased down Donald Hitman, 38, in separate vehicles in the parking lot of the car wash after a failed drug deal.
Police have security video of the alleged incident which shows a person walking through the parking lot when a silver 2016 Mitsubishi Lancer suddenly enters the lot and narrowly misses hitting the pedestrian who starts running, but is then quickly hit by a white 2017 Ford Explorer which entered the lot at a high rate of speed.
The pedestrian was then driven into the wall of a nearby wooden building by the Explorer.
Police say Cole was driving the silver car and Hayes was driving the Explorer and that after Hitman was struck they both exited their vehicles and went after him on foot.
“They dragged Hitman out from between the Explorer and the building by his backpack and then stole $200 from him,” wrote Capt. Gray in his report.
Hitman, who was heavily bruised and cut after being hit, later told police that things went bad after he tried to purchase drugs from Cole.
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Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
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Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
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