Police officers investigating a shooting ended up arresting an Odessa man for allegedly running a man over with his vehicle.
According to an Odessa Police Department report, officers received a report of a gunshot victim in the 500 block of East 35th Street around 11 p.m. Monday. When they arrived, a man said he was shot in the groin while walking home from a convenience store with a friend.
The man was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries and officers found a witness. The witness said he was in his truck at 35th Street and Muskingum when he saw a Chevrolet SUV try to run over two men who split up, the report stated. He said the driver of the Chevy continued to chase one of the men and eventually ran him over before leaving and parking in the alley behind the 2700 block of Center Avenue.
After officers found the Chevy, Charles Whittington approached them and said he’d been approached by two unknown men wearing masks demanding money, but they left when they found his pockets empty, the report stated.
Whittington said one of the men pointed a gun at him and he tried to call OPD’s non-emergency number and got an answering machine, according to the report.
Whittington told officers he decided to look for the men, found them and chased one of them after they split up, the report stated. He said after hitting a curb and blowing out a tire, he saw the man he had been chasing fall to the ground and then get up and run away.
According to the report, Whittington said he didn’t think he’d actually hit the man.
Officers found video surveillance showing the gunshot victim’s friend falling to the ground and Whittington driving up over the curb and running him over, the report stated.
Whittington was arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for “intentionally and knowingly” using his vehicle as a weapon, the report stated.
Whittington remained in the Ector County jail Wednesday night on a $75,000 surety bond.
