A Vancouver man who is accused of fleeing his pickup, leaving behind a seriously injured passenger, following a drunken-driving crash made a first court appearance Wednesday.
Brandon L. Langley, 27, appeared in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of vehicular assault and hit-and-run resulting in injury. Judge Suzan Clark set bail at $50,000, and scheduled arraignment for June 19, according to court records.
Emergency personnel were dispatched for a single-vehicle crash around 1:10 a.m. Monday at 11612 N.E. Ward Road. Callers told dispatchers that a man, whom they believed to be the driver, had taken off on foot, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
A nearby resident, who was standing next to a man later identified as Langley, flagged down the first arriving Clark County sheriff’s deputy just around the corner from the collision. Langley reported a friend was in a crash and had been seriously injured, but Langley denied being involved and claimed to live nearby. He pleaded with the deputy to go help his friend, the affidavit said.
The deputy asked Langley to meet him at the scene of the crash, but Langley never arrived. When the deputy came upon the scene, he saw a man pinned into the passenger seat of a Ford F-350, according to the affidavit.
The passenger, later identified as James Lucas, 28, was unwilling to give a description of the driver. He was extricated from the vehicle by Clark County Fire District 3 personnel, according to the affidavit.
Lucas was taken to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center, where he underwent surgery for a broken vertebra in his neck and received 17 staples in his scalp, the affidavit said. He remains at the hospital in stable condition, a spokesman said Wednesday night.
Hours after the crash, a deputy encountered Langley, who was identified as the driver by multiple witnesses, walking on Northeast 172nd Avenue near the crash scene. Langley denied being involved in the crash, the affidavit said. He was taken to the hospital and treated before being booked in the Clark County Jail on several outstanding misdemeanor and felony warrants.
Further investigation found Langley was drinking heavily with friends to the point where he struggled to stand prior to the crash. Just before the crash, Langley exceeded speeds of 100 mph and blew through traffic signals, the affidavit said.
In addition to the outstanding warrants, Langley drove while his license was suspended or revoked and was in violation of court-ordered ignition interlock requirements, according to the affidavit.
