A woman’s complaint that her boyfriend had wrecked her car led to the the boyfriend’s arrest Thursday. He allegedly drove away after hitting another man with his car and leaving him with several broken bones.
William Zerface, 32, is charged with leaving the scene of an accident that causes serious bodily injury, a felony. Zerface’s home address is listed as being in Ellettsville, Indiana, though police said he’d been staying with his girlfriend in Bloomington.
Police responded at about 9:15 p.m. Wednesday to the 1300 block of West Second Street, where a witness said a white passenger car had struck a pedestrian and continued westbound, Bloomington Police Department Lt. John Kovach said. Responding officers found a 39-year-old man lying on the side of the road with serious injuries.
The victim was taken to IU Health Bloomington Hospital, where it was determined he’d suffered a broken right arm, broken nose, broken left leg, knee and clavicle, and extensive injuries to his face. The injuries are not believed to be life-threatening, Kovach said.
The witness told police he had already been concerned about the victim, who was walking in the street and alternating between the middle and edge of the road. As he tried to catch up with him to ask if he needed help, the witness saw the car hit the pedestrian.
The car did not attempt to stop or slow down, the witness said, and it sustained damage to its passenger side. An accident reconstruction investigator found no indication of a car braking, Kovach said.
While police were still investigating, they received a call from a woman who wanted to file a report about her boyfriend, who had wrecked her car. Police who responded to the residence on the 1300 block of South Basswood Circle found a white 1999 Chrysler Concorde with damage to its passenger side.
The site of the damage included human hair and tissue.
The woman, who identified her boyfriend as Zerface, said he’d told her he hit a large rock on his way home. Kovach said her call came in at about 11:30 p.m., more than two hours after the hit-and-run.
Zerface was not home when police arrived. While police investigated the damage on the car, a man who was at the time unidentified but later identified as Zerface walked up to police, asked what they were doing and walked away when told they were investigating a collision.
Police eventually identified and spoke to Zerface at his girlfriend’s residence. He told them he believed he’d hit a large branch or something similar while driving.
He was arrested early Thursday morning and charged with the felony because of the time lapse between the hit-and-run and when it was reported and because Zerface had initially walked away from police instead of talking about the incident, Kovach said. He could face additional charges depending on toxicology results.
