A Winterville man is facing multiple charges after police say he stole a woman's Honda Civic and then slammed head-on into another driver's car on the other side of the road, leaving that driver with serious injuries. Ethan Every, 32, was jailed on a $100,000 bond following the crash in Greenville.
According to warrants cited by WITN, Every stole a woman's 2008 Honda Civic, valued at $14,000, on November 1. Investigators say he then drove the stolen car across the centerline and collided head-on with a vehicle driven by Shawn Dooley, who suffered serious injuries in the crash, the warrants state.
Charges Filed Days After the Crash
Greenville police did not charge Every until four days after the crash. The station's report notes that officers charged him on November 5 with possession of a stolen motor vehicle, reckless driving with wanton disregard, and assault with a deadly weapon. Separately, East Carolina University Health police arrested him on a charge of larceny of a motor vehicle, per the same account.
Every was booked into jail on a $100,000 bond, according to the outlet's reporting. The gap between the November 1 crash and the November 5 charges has not been explained in the available reporting, and no additional detail on Dooley's condition or recovery has been released.
What North Carolina Law Says About Reckless Driving
Reckless driving with wanton disregard is defined under North Carolina law as driving carelessly and heedlessly in willful or wanton disregard of the rights or safety of others, according to North Carolina General Assembly statute G.S. 20-140. Under that same statute, reckless driving that causes serious injury is classified as a Class 1 misdemeanor as a general matter of state law, though that classification does not determine how any individual case, including this one, will ultimately be charged or resolved.
No further details have been made public about the current status of the charges against Every or whether he has entered a plea.
