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Imperial man faces DUI, hit-and-run charges in apartment crash

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By Neal Putnam

An Imperial man whose car slammed into an apartment building in Ramona on June 8 has been charged with driving under the influence of a drug with injury and two counts of hit and run.

Charles Wayne Scott, 20, has been sent a notify letter from the District Attorney’s office that lists the charges in El Cajon Superior Court, and his arraignment date that is set for Sept. 5. Charges were filed Aug. 15.

Scott and a female passenger were hospitalized after the 2005 silver Ford Focus he was driving on La Brea Street sideswiped a car in the parking lot of the Canyon Crest apartment building.

The car struck two separate apartment units around 11:30 a.m. in the 1700 block of La Brea Street.

Before that, Scott allegedly committed a hit and run in the Kmart parking lot on Main Street and struck a sign on the southwest corner of La Brea and Day Streets. The hit and run charges are misdemeanors.

The DUI charge is a felony, but it does not describe what drug Scott may have taken. Stories at the time said Scott could have been under the influence of an inhalant. A court document says Scott previously had been charged with DUI.

A woman in one apartment kitchen was injured, but the charge doesn’t specify if the injury was to Scott’s passenger or the apartment dweller.

The collision damaged the kitchens of two apartment units, but a county inspector later determined the building had no structural damage. The residents of both apartments were relocated to other units.

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