A 29-year-old man is facing felony charges after police say his Dodge Challenger slammed into the back of a Ford pickup truck on Statesville Avenue near Oaklawn Avenue, seriously injuring two people and sending him fleeing the scene on foot. Harrison Leverette now sits in custody under a $100,000 bond following the Thursday afternoon crash just north of Uptown Charlotte.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police responded to the crash a little after 1 p.m. on Thursday, according to WCNC. Investigators told the station that Leverette drove his Dodge Challenger into the rear of the pickup and then left the scene on foot rather than stopping to help the people he had struck.
Surveillance Footage Allegedly Shows Reckless Speed
Surveillance video reviewed by CMPD reportedly showed the Dodge Challenger speeding through traffic before the collision, with investigators telling WCNC that Leverette was driving much faster than other vehicles in the area. Leverette faces felony charges after the crash.
Police also say Leverette chased a white SUV after the crash, and that the SUV was linked to the incident. CMPD officers went on to stop the driver of that vehicle, though the station's report does not detail what role, if any, that driver played in the crash itself.
Victims Suffered Broken Ribs, Fractured Spine
The two people inside the Ford pickup were seriously injured, according to police. Investigators told the station that their injuries included multiple broken ribs and a fractured spine, and that one occupant may also have suffered a collapsed lung. Medical staff indicated the other occupant may have suffered a severe back injury.
Leverette now faces felony hit-and-run charges, along with reckless driving and driving without insurance, per the station's reporting. A listing on mecklenburgnc.mugshots.zone identifies him as Harrison Samuel Leverette and shows a felony hit-and-run charge involving serious injury or death, with bond listed at $100,000, matching the figure cited by investigators.
Part of a Rough Stretch for Charlotte Hit-and-Run Cases
Leverette's arrest comes in the same week Charlotte has grappled with another hit-and-run case that ended in tragedy. A 6-year-old girl, Mariana Espinoza, died after being struck by a car in a Charlotte hit-and-run on Oct. 23, with the collision happening shortly before 3:30 p.m. along Barrington Drive near Milton Road, according to wbtv.com. She died the next day, on Oct. 24.
Seventeen-year-old Lachevis Finnie was arrested Oct. 26 in that case and charged with felony hit-and-run causing serious injury or death, the outlet reported. He appeared in Mecklenburg County court the next day, where he was appointed a public defender and had his bond set at $2.5 million. A separate pedestrian was also seriously injured in an alleged hit-and-run in east Charlotte that same Friday afternoon, with Medic saying the person was struck around 3:30 p.m. at Lanecrest Drive and Barrington Drive and taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Court records in Mecklenburg County, including those tied to cases of public interest like these, are available to the public at the office of the Clerk of Superior Court, according to the North Carolina Judicial Branch, which notes the Mecklenburg County Clerk of Superior Court Office is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. It remains unclear whether Leverette has an attorney or a scheduled court date.
