Driver Distracted by Phone Hit Man in Supermarket Parking Lot, State College Police Say

A woman admitted she was distracted by her phone when she struck a pedestrian with her vehicle in a State College area supermarket parking lot, according to borough police.

Skiely P. Joseph, 23, of Lewistown, did not contact police and left the scene after briefly checking on the man following the April 27 crash outside of Giant, 2121 S. Atherton St., police wrote in an affidavit of probable cause filed on Friday.

The man was dazed and could not remember all of what happened when police arrived, but said that he was in the crosswalk when he was hit by a vehicle, according to the affidavit. When the driver checked on him the man said he was OK, he told police, but he said he had arm pain and was ultimately taken by EMS to Mount Nittany Medical Center. He was later referred to orthopedics for further evaluation.

Surveillance video showed the driver, later identified through her vehicle registration as Joseph, traveling northbound toward the man as he was walking in the marked crosswalk, police wrote. When she struck the man, he rolled onto the hood of the vehicle and then fell off onto the pavement, according to the affidavit.

The man did not immediately get up and sat on the pavement “for some time,” police wrote. Joseph got out and checked on him for less than a minute before returning to her vehicle and driving away, according to the affidavit.

After Joseph left, the man walked to the sidewalk and wandered “around the same area for several minutes,” police wrote. Store staff eventually called for police and EMS.

Reached by phone, Joseph told an officer that she did not see the man before she struck him because she was distracted by her phone, according to the affidavit.

Joseph was charged by summons with a misdemeanor count of accidents involving personal injury and summary counts of reckless driving and failure to stop and give information or render aid.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 15.