SMITHFIELD – Police are investigating an early morning traffic accident that caused extensive property damage.
Around 12:27am today (Friday), police responded to a single vehicle accident in the 400 block of Martin Luther King Drive.
According to an accident report, Treshawn Alddin Padgett, 31, of Smithfield was operating a 2007 Chevrolet when the vehicle ran off the roadway to the left and sideswiped a parked car. Padgett’s vehicle then struck three Town of Smithfield roll-out garbage collection containers, throwing debris and gravel onto a second parked car. The Chevy then struck a tree on the right side of Martin Luther King Drive.
Police arrived to find the damage, however Padgett had reportedly fled in the heavily-damaged 2007 Chevy. The vehicle was later found abandoned in a vacant lot off Midway Street.
Padgett was reportedly located at Johnston Health in Smithfield where he was treated and released for minor injuries.
Smithfield Police charged Treshawn Padgett with driving while impaired, resisting delay and obstruct, littering, reckless driving, hit and run, and filing a false police report. He was held under a $15,000 secured bond. (A mugshot was not immediately available).
Damage to Padgett’s vehicle was placed at $8,000. Damaged to the parked vehicles was estimated at $1,000 and $800.
