PD: Driver leaves scene, charged with DUI

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BROOKINGS – A hit-and-run accident turned into a DUI arrest Monday, according to Brookings Police.

Haley Taylor, 23, of Lake Benton, was arrested for DUI and leaving the scene of an accident. She was transported to the Brookings County Detention Center, Assistant Chief Derrick Powers said.

The accident was reported shortly after 7 p.m. Monday and occurred at the intersection of Sixth Street and Seventh Avenue, Powers said. It was called in by the driver of one of the vehicles.

“They had indicated that the other driver had left the scene,” Powers said.

Officers found Evan Steers, 19, of Brookings, still at the scene with the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee he’d been driving. 

“Prior to the accident, he had been traveling east on Sixth Street and ended up stopping for a red traffic signal (at Seventh Avenue),” Powers said. 

“He indicated that the other vehicle had approached from behind and didn’t stop and hit him. After the accident, the driver of that second vehicle ended up leaving the scene prior to us being notified,” Powers said.

“The other vehicle was identified as a 1995 Lexus ES300 sedan. Officers were able to locate it a short time after the accident. It was in the 300 block of Fourth Street, and they were able to identify the driver as Haley Taylor and it was found that she had been drinking,” Powers said.

“Sobriety tests were administered and it was determined she was under the influence of an alcoholic beverage at the time of the accident,” Powers said.

Taylor’s Lexus had extensive front end damage, and Steers’ Cherokee had significant rear-end damage.

“I think (the Cherokee) was towed from the scene,” Powers said.

Neither driver was taken in for medical treatment, he added.