BURLINGTON — A drunken argument escalated into a construction worker running a co-worker over with a pickup truck twice, Racine County prosecutors say.
Twenty-nine-year-old Ivan Verbitsky of Mequon was chargedwith felonies 1st-degree recklessly endangering safety and hit and run involving injury, as well as misdemeanor disorderly conduct on Tuesday.
Bond was set at $5,000 and requires Verbitsky to not consume or possess alcohol. If found guilty on all three charges, he could spend as many as 18 years and six months in prison.
A criminal complaint released Tuesday states that Burlington police officers responded to a report of a man getting run over by a truck last Thursday.
Officers found an off-duty paramedic treating the victim, who was lying on the front porch of a home. The victim told officers he was struck by Verbitsky, and the victim was then transported to the hospital, according to the complaint.
Officers spoke with a witness, who told them she saw the incident occur. She reported that Verbitsky and the victim were arguing and pushing each other near a construction site of a new school, prosecutors say.
The witness said that the victim entered the construction site and Verbitsky entered a white pickup truck. The victim then left the construction site holding a cinder block, and threw it to Verbitsky and the truck he was in, the complaint states.
Verbitsky then started the truck and swerved towards the victim, striking him. Verbitsky then backed up and drove over the victim a second time, before leaving the area, the witness told police, according to the complaint.
The victim suffered significant bruising and some lacerations. He did not have any broken bones, police say.
An investigation later found that the victim and Verbitsky were working the flooring of the new school. Verbitsky and the victim had consumed alcohol together and then got into an argument, the complaint states.
The victim admitted to police he threw the cinder block at the truck, but did not believe that justified being run over by Verbitsky, according to the complaint.
Verbitsky's truck was later located. Police say the truck's windows were not damaged, despite a cinder block hitting them.
Verbitsky responded to the Burlington Police Department with an attorney on Sunday and turned himself in.
Verbitsky will be in Racine County Court for his preliminary hearing on April 22.
