ST. LOUIS — Twenty-four hours after a hit-and-run incident in downtown St. Louis one of the men involved is sharing his side of the story.
Jarid Faulkerson is one of the men who appeared to get hit by the truck.
He told 5 On Your Side that he only wanted the truck driver’s insurance, but instead, the incident ended with one of his drivers in the hospital.
“This cart alone is probably $13,000 without any kind of radio in it,” Faulkerson said. “Our main goal is that all of our riders feel safe and are safe when they’re on any of our vehicles.”
After 11 years of shuttling people around downtown Faulkerson, co-owner of STL Golf Cart Shuttle, is well aware of the danger in his day job.
“I would say our biggest danger would have to be the cars,” Faulkerson said. A lot of people aren’t paying attention. A lot of people are doing 70 mph down Broadway.”
Sunday afternoon, Faulkerson said his biggest fear played out at the corner of Broadway and Clark Avenue.
“A truck was trying to come out,” Faulkerson said. “He can’t move because of traffic. All of a sudden I hear my driver yelling 'Hey what’s going on?' I see this Dodge Ram ram into our cart, backup, ram into him again, and backup before proceeding down Broadway, trying to get away.”
Faulkerson admits he and the truck driver exchanged words after he stopped.
“I was in front of the truck,” Faulkerson said. “He revved the engine a few times and then he took off. I backpedaled and got out of the way. Unfortunately, my driver, Will [Perrin], was right there doing the same thing. I see the guy veer into Will, hit him, and take off.”
The golf cart driver, Will, was held Sunday night in the hospital but has since been released.
“Something like that could cause one minor thing and he could’ve been paralyzed and never walking again, or he could’ve been worse dead,” Faulkerson said.
At this point, no charges have been filed but the St. Louis Police Department confirmed they are investigating the incident as vehicular assault.
“We all have bad days,” Faulkerson said. “That doesn’t mean you run somebody over.”
Police sources told 5 On Your Side they believe road rage to be the motive behind this incident.
Though the driver has yet to be identified, police are on the lookout for a black Dodge Ram with an Illinois plate indicating the driver is a disabled veteran.