Hit-and-run charge filed in north Spokane crash

Nearly a week after a dramatic crash that flipped an SUV and sent a woman to the hospital, prosecutors have filed a hit-and-run charge in the case against David R. Brown.

Brown, 44, was arrested Tuesday after detectives tracked him to a house in the 1600 block of West York Avenue. Newly filed court documents say a neighbor there provided surveillance video showing a man who looks like Brown swapping tires on a damaged Chevy Impala.

Brown is accused of driving the Impala through a red light at West Garland Avenue and North Cedar Street, striking a Toyota SUV and causing it to roll into a neighbor’s yard on July 9.

“The driver of the Chevy fled the scene and left the injured driver of the Toyota hanging upside-down from her seatbelt,” court documents say.

Prosecutors initially were relying on a photograph of a man, later identified as Brown, that was taken about four blocks from the crash. The witness who took the picture said the man seemed to be running from something.

The woman driving the SUV was reportedly pregnant. According to court documents, she received a black eye and various scratches and bruises on an arm and shoulder.

Brown is also charged with possession of a stolen vehicle and possession of a controlled substance. He’s being held in the Spokane County Jail on a $100,000 bond and will appear in Superior Court again Friday afternoon.

Court documents indicate he has an extensive criminal record in California.