Scott Fitzgerald Heatherly, 58, who lives south of Arnold, reportedly drove on the wrong side of Miller Road in the Arnold area and forced a woman off the road. He then hid the car he had been driving at a home he was not supposed to visit, according to court documents.
The Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office on Sept. 2 charged Heatherly with leaving the scene of an accident, a class E felony punishable by up to four years in prison; and failing to drive on the right half of a roadway resulting in an accident, a class A misdemeanor that carries a penalty of up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,000, court records said.
Heatherly was arrested on Sept. 5, and as of Sept. 6, he was being held on a $50,000 bond at the Jefferson County Jail in Hillsboro, court documents show.
According to the probable-cause statement in the case, the Missouri State Highway Patrol was called at about 8:05 a.m. June 22 following the crash on Miller Road near Vogel Road south of Arnold.
The woman who reportedly was run off the road told the trooper that a man driving a blue Buick was acting erratically and followed her from Vogel Road onto southbound Miller Road before driving on the wrong side of the road to pull parallel to her and then sideswiped her, forcing her off the road. He then drove away, the report said.
The woman provided a license plate number for the Buick and said she saw the man turn left onto Elm Drive after the collision, according to the report.
The trooper learned that the Buick was registered to Heatherly and went to a home on 1200 Woodside Drive south of Arnold that was connected to the car. However, no one answered the door, the report said.
The woman who allegedly was forced off the road identified Heatherly in a photo lineup. She also provided the trooper with three estimates for the cost to repair her vehicle, which ranged from $1,753.89 to $6,045.46, according to the report.
On July 19, Heatherly called a trooper and allegedly admitted to being involved in the accident. He said he had driven on the shoulder of Vogel Road behind the woman and passed her on the wrong side of Miller Road, the report said.
However, Heatherly said he did not hit the woman’s vehicle, but he did leave the area when he saw her go off the road, according to the report.
Heatherly also told the trooper he was coming from the home in the 1200 block of Woodside Drive, and that he was not supposed to be at that house because his former wife lived there and she had a protection order against him, the report said.
Heatherly said after the crash, he returned to the Woodside Drive home, and his former wife let him hide the Buick in the garage, according to the report.