Elkins Hit-and-Run: Pedestrian Flown to Morgantown, Driver Charged

Folks in Elkins are used to looking out for one another, which makes what police say happened on West Main Street Monday afternoon all the harder to hear. A man walking in town was run down by a car, and the driver took off. Now a 35-year-old Elkins man is behind bars, charged in connection with the crash.

According to the Elkins Police Department, officers were called around 4:06 p.m. Monday to a report of a hit-and-run involving a pedestrian on West Main Street. When they got there, they found the man lying underneath a fence. He told officers he had been run over.

A crash a few streets away

While officers were working to reach and help the injured man, another call came in: a black Nissan had crashed into a utility pole on Pleasant Avenue. A witness told police a man climbed out of the driver's seat and ran off on foot.

Police tracked down the Nissan a short time later. According to court documents, officers saw what appeared to be an imprint of the pedestrian's head on the front of the car, along with hair caught in the glass.

Driver detained at a nearby home

Officers detained Howard Gates, 35, at a home nearby. According to police, a woman told officers that Gates had handed her the Nissan's keys after leaving the home and coming back a short time later. Officers also said they found a key inside the Nissan that unlocked the front door of Gates' home.

Gates is charged with leaving the scene of a crash involving serious bodily injury. He is being held at Tygart Valley Regional Jail on $35,000 cash bond. A criminal charge is only an accusation, and he is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.

Pedestrian flown to Morgantown

The injured man was flown to Morgantown for treatment. Police described his injuries as serious but did not release his name or an update on his condition.

It's a sobering reminder as the days get shorter and dusk comes earlier: slow down on our town streets and watch for neighbors on foot. Please keep the injured man and his family in your thoughts as he recovers.