Overview
- Prosecutors charged 35-year-old Melthon Branch with seven felonies including evading an officer causing serious bodily injury, felony hit-and-run, elder abuse, assault with a deadly weapon, and possession of methamphetamine for sale.
- An officer tried to stop Branch for an alleged outstanding U.S. Marshals Service warrant and Branch allegedly fled on an electric scooter through sidewalks and traffic before striking a 72-year-old woman.
- The crash threw both people to the ground and the woman was hospitalized with a fractured elbow and a broken wrist that required surgery.
- Officers arrested Branch after he ran to the 200 block of O’Farrell Street and dove under a restaurant table and reported seizing suspected meth, more than $2,000 in cash, a digital scale, packaging and three credit cards bearing other names.
- The case moved toward arraignment at the Hall of Justice and prosecutors said they will ask a judge to keep Branch in custody without bail because they view him as a public-safety risk.