Fairmont man charged in hit-and-run crash with scooter

A Fairmont man has been charged in a hit-and-run crash with a scooter than left a man with serious injuries.

Ethan Taylor Meixell, 21, was charged Wednesday in Martin County Court with felony criminal vehicular operation for the July 18 incident.  The crash happened at the intersection of Blue Earth Ave and Grant St in Fairmont.

Officers were dispatched to the scene of the crash just before 4 p.m.., where they found a motorized three-wheel scooter and a man who was bleeding from the back of his head lying next to it.  He was transported to a hospital by ambulance.

Meixell was identified as the driver of the vehicle that hit the man. He was later located at his grandfather’s home.  Meixell told police he had begun making a left-hand turn from the southbound lane of Grant St onto Blue Earth Ave when he saw the man on the scooter.  A criminal complaint says Meixell admitted hitting the scooter, but said he left the scene because he panicked.

Police say there was no indication that Meixell had been using the phone at the time of the crash, nor did he show any signs of impairment.

The complaint says Meixell’s vehicle was not insured.

The victim’s daughter told investigators her father had suffered multiple broken vertebrae and bleeding on the brain as a result of the crash.

Meixell is also charged with failure to stop for an injury crash, a gross misdemeanor.