A Savannah man faces several charges and remains hospitalized after police say he fled the scene of two wrecks with two young children in his car Tuesday night.
Eric Jerrod Morgan, 30, of the 900 block of East 37th Street, has been charged with two counts of hit and run, driving under the influence, and two counts of leaving the scene of an accident and first degree child endangerment for failing to obtain medical treatment for his injured child, said Julian Miller, Savannah-Chatham police spokesman.
About 6:15 p.m. Tuesday, police officers responded to a crash with injuries at White Bluff Road and Lee Boulevard where they found a white 2004 Chevrolet Impala had crashed into a tree, Miller said.
All of the occupants of that car had left the scene; witnesses told police the occupants had been picked up by a second car.
The wrecked car was identified as the vehicle that had earlier sped away from a crash scene at White Bluff and Stephenson Avenue, Miller said. The driver of a pickup truck the Impala had struck in the initial crash said the other driver had approached him but sped away after being advised that police were being called. The pickup truck driver advised responding officers the car’s driver smelled of alcohol, Miller said.
Officers were told that a 6-year-old girl had been a passenger in the Impala. After police demanded the child’s mother, who showed up on the scene, turn over the child to be check out for any medical issues, she was taken to Memorial University Medical Center for treatment including a cut in her mouth and a missing tooth. Miller said she told police she was not using a seat belt or otherwise restrained at the time of the crash.
Morgan, the driver of the car, arrived at the hospital three hours later complaining of injuries from the crash. About 45 minutes after that, a second child, age 3, arrived for treatment of injuries as well, Miller said.
Officers with the department’s traffic unit are continuing to investigate the incident.