On 09/01/2024 a City Officer was dispatched to Walmart in reference to a hit and run crash. Upon arriving, multiple customers advised the Officer that they’d seen a male driving a gray Ford Fusion strike a metal cart return head-on and provided the tag number to the Officer. They stated that it caused the cart return to strike a blue Ford F150. A witness advised the Officer while she was putting up her groceries, she heard a loud crash and saw the Fusion hit the cart return. She stated that the male driver had been driving in the wrong direction down the parking lane before he collided with the cart return. She further stated that the male had then driven out of the parking lot towards N. Main St.

 Another Officer located the Fusion in the rear parking row of Bennett Square directly behind the drive through at McDonalds. He advised that the vehicle was running, still in drive, and that he could see the driver, Roscoe Wadford, inhaling a canned air duster in the driver’s seat. Mr. Wadford was detained at this time pending the crash investigation. While Wadford was exiting his vehicle, the Officer heard a can of air fall onto the ground and could see another can between Mr. Wadford’s right leg and the center console.  The Officer located 12 empty cans, 3 partially empty cans, and 3 full cans of air inside the truck with most of them near to the front passenger seat.

While other officers were out with Mr. Wadford, the initial officer was able to locate the owner of the F150 at Walmart at the store as he was an employee there. The Officer and the employee were able to move the cart return (which did not appear to be damaged) away from his vehicle and put it back where it had originally been so that the employee could check his vehicle for damage in the area struck. The employee advised the officer that there was no visible damage to his vehicle upon his inspection.

While investigating the crash, it was found that Mr. Wadford did not have insurance on his vehicle. He also made no immediate stop upon crashing to notify the owner/operator of the F150, check for any damage caused by the crash, or even leave a note with his information before he left the area. The Officer also observed Mr. Wadford to be a danger to himself and the public due to his inhaling of canned air (difluoroethane), leading him to be intoxicated and cause potential damage to property or persons. The Officer placed Mr. Wadford into custody and transported him to the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office without incident. Wadford was charged with Public Intoxication, Striking an Unattended Vehicle, and issued a criminal summons for having No Insurance. His vehicle was towed.