Ephrata man sentenced for vehicular assault

EPHRATA — A Ephrata man who left the scene of an accident after a man fell out of the back of the truck he was driving will be spending a year in jail.

McKell Iyall, 22, of Ephrata, pleaded guilty in Grant County Superior Court to vehicular assault and hit-and-run. Grant County Superior Court Judge John Knodell sentenced Iyall to a year of confinement in the Grant County Jail.

Iyall’s sentence stems from an incident in the evening hours of June 30, when the Ephrata Police Department received a report of a traumatic injury in the area of Maringo Road and Roosevelt Boulevard. Officers located a 24-year-old man at the scene, who had fallen out of the back of a 2006 Dodge Ram pickup truck driven by Iyall. The victim was initially transported to Columbia Basin Hospital in Ephrata, but was later airlifted to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane for treatment of brain injuries.

Four witnesses of the incident came forward and told police they were at a home in the 300 block of Strand Road, with Iyall, and decided to go to another residence in the 300 block of Maringo Road. They decided to pile into the Dodge Ram pickup truck, but the cab of the truck was full so three individuals, one of whom was the victim, hopped into the bed of the truck.

Iyall started driving as the tailgate on the truck was down, which caused the passengers in the bed to yell at him to slow down. Iyall hit the gas instead and the victim fell out of the back of the truck at the Roosevelt/Maringo intersection. Iyall later returned to the intersection, but fled the area when 911 was contacted

“I asked the witnesses if there was any way Iyall did not know (the victim) was injured or had been thrown from the vehicle, they all said no. I inquired if they had observed Iyall drinking any alcoholic beverages,” wrote a officer. “They all said they had only been around him for approximately 30 minutes but did not observe him drinking alcoholic beverages. I asked if they felt Iyall was acting normally or if he may have been intoxicated, they all said they did not feel he was intoxicated.”

Iyall contacted MACC Dispatch the next morning and was taken into custody by EPD officers.

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.