Man sent to prison for hitting teen with truck before speeding away
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IDAHO FALLS — A judge sent an Idaho Falls man to prison after he hit a teenager with a truck in Iona before speeding away.
Travis James Chapman, 30, pleaded guilty to felony leaving the scene of an injury accident. On Aug. 21, District Judge Dane H. Watkins Jr. ordered Chapman to spend 18 months to five years in prison.
As part of a plea agreement, a felony aggravated battery with a deadly weapon charge was dismissed.
The incident leading up to Chapman’s sentencing unfolded on Dec. 17 when he told deputies he went to pick up a camper trailer he “had paperwork for,” according to an affidavit of probable cause. A dispute followed over the ownership of the camper.
As Champman tried hooking up the trailer, someone called 911 and a group of five or six people came outside.
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Chapman told detectives the man wielding the shovel began threatening him, so he sped away. Witnesses said Chapman turned around and swerved at a group of people standing on the side of the road. The truck hit a teenager, causing injuries that needed treatment at the hospital.
“Travis C. stopped in the roadway and yelled, ‘ F— you. You are lucky I didn’t hit you harder,’” witnesses reported hearing.
Chapman later told a deputy that the teenager stepped out into the road and Chapman didn’t mean to hit him.
At the time of the crime, Chapman was on probation for felony drug-related charges, according to the Idaho Department of Correction. With the new conviction, Chapman will have to serve time in those cases alongside his new sentence.
Watkins also ordered Chapman to pay $1,645.50 in fees and fines.