One Hurt, One Charged after Hit-and-Run Crash

A Paducah man faces DUI and leaving the scene of an accident charges, after police say he crashed his car into another vehicle and fled the scene.

Police say 58-year-old Kim Froman told them that she was driving east on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive at around noon Tuesday, when another driver ran a stop sign at North 9th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and hit her van in the side. Froman said the other vehicle then ran into a yard, hit the porch, backed up and hit a light pole and fled the scene.

When officers arrived they met 47-year-old James A. West walking his dog on the sidewalk at the wreck site. West told officers that he was not involved in the crash. He told them was there to help his friend, 32-year-old Albert Reed, who he said was the one driving. Police said both Reed and Froman said that West had in fact been driving the vehicle at the time of the crash.

Police said West fled on foot while they were treating Reed's injuries. Officers caught West and arrested him on charges of driving under the influence, leaving the scene of an accident and being a fugitive from justice. A computer check showed that West is also wanted in Mississippi for a probation violation.

West was booked into the McCracken County Regional Jail. Reed was taken to Baptist Health Paducah for treatment.