Man gets work crew in hit-and-run incident

A Vancouver man who backed his pickup into a car saleswoman and then fled the scene was sentenced Thursday to five days on a jail work crew.

Russell M. Karling, 56, pleaded guilty in Clark County Superior Court to hit-and-run and driving with a suspended license — both misdemeanor crimes. Karling entered an “in re barr” plea to the hit-and-run, which allows a defendant to plead guilty to a lesser related charge he didn’t commit in order to avoid conviction for a greater offense.

According to a probable cause affidavit, Roxanne Parisien was standing in the parking lot at the Vancouver Dick Hannah dealership, 3517 N.E. Auto Mall Drive, on March 2 when a black pickup drove in reverse through the parking lot and struck her. She was knocked to the ground and suffered some bruising and pain to her right side.

Karling, who was later identified as the driver through a photo lineup, stopped, got out of the truck and escorted Parisien inside the dealership. Witnesses said he then acted as if he was going to grab some information from his vehicle, but instead drove away, the affidavit states.

Police contacted Karling at his residence and he admitted to being the driver who hit a female pedestrian at the dealership, court records said.

He said he was at the dealership looking for someone when he struck the woman. Karling helped her inside the dealership, he said, and a male associate told him the man he was looking for was at another lot. Karling said he asked the associate if he needed anything else from him. The associate said no, so he left, according to court documents.

During the hearing, Karling said he felt terrible about hurting the woman and that he wasn’t thinking when he left the scene without providing his information.

Judge Scott Collier followed the attorneys’ previously agreed-upon sentencing recommendation of 90 days in jail, with 83 days of that time suspended. Karling was also given credit for two days in custody. The remaining five days will be served on the work crew.