Felony charges filed in Gadsden crash

A 32 year old Gadsden man has been charged with felony leaving the scene of an accident after Tuesday afternoons collision that sent a Gadsden police officer to a hospital for treatment and left a truck in the side of the Merrill Lynch building on Broad Street in downtown Gadsden.

Joseph Michael Morgan, is charged with two counts of leaving the scene of an accident, with a $2,500 bond on one count and a $1,000 bond on the other. He also was charged with misdemeanor assault.

A Gadsden police report names Morgan as the suspect who left the scene of the accident that injured Officer Gary Parker Tuesday afternoon. Parker was sitting in his patrol unit on Broad Street about 4:45 p.m. when his car was rear-ended by Morgan’s truck, which fled the scene heading west on Broad Street and ran into the side of the Merrill Lynch building.

According to the police report, Morgan then got out of the vehicle and fled on foot, but about 13 minutes later he reappeared at the scene of the accident, where he was taken into custody.

Parker was treated and released at a local hospital, but still was experiencing neck and back pain the next day, according to the police report. The police report stated Morgan was taken to the same hospital for a toxicology test.