July 04--RALEIGH -- Getting a parking ticket in downtown Raleigh can be unsettling, but police say a 23-year-old man used his minivan to strike a parking patrol employee who was attempting to stick a ticket on his windshield.
Police say the man, Percy Jamal Richardson of 3200-A Walnut Creek Parkway, fled the scene after the incident in early May.
Police caught up with Richardson on Tuesday and charged him with one count each of assault with a deadly weapon and felony hit and run, court records show.
Investigators also charged Richardson with two counts of failure to appear in court on charges of driving while license revoked and driving with an expired registration or license tag, court records show.
The victim, Tommy Strickland, was taken to WakeMed in Raleigh by his supervisor for treatment of a non-serious injury, according to police spokesman Jim Sughrue.
The incident occurred on May 7 near the intersection of Wilmington and Hargett streets, according to arrest warrants filed Tuesday at the Wake County Magistrate's Office.
Police say Strickland, a City of Raleigh Park Link employee, was about to place a parking ticket on the windshield of a gray 1996 Plymouth Voyager that Richardson was driving.
But instead of accepting the ticket, police say Richardson drove the minivan into Strickland and fled from the scene, court records show.
A witness, Stacie Cappiello, who lives in downtown Raleigh, said the minivan was parked illegally in front of a downtown tattoo shop.
"Not only was it parked illegally, it was parked incorrectly," Cappiello said.
Cappiello said Richardson and another person came out of the tattoo shop on Wilmington Street and hopped into the minivan while Strickland was writing the ticket.
When the minivan engine started up, Strickland yelled for the driver to wait, Cappiello said.
The driver ignored Strickland's request to stop and instead struck the parking patrol employee with the vehicle, knocking him to the ground, Cappiello said.
Police used the driver's information that Strickland had written to obtain warrants for Richardson's arrest. He was being held at the Wake County jail, his bail set at $16,500 bail, court records show.
McDonald: 919-829-4533
Copyright 2012 - The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.
