Steamboat Pilot & Today

Three Steamboat Springs men will be on trial later this month for their suspected connection with a hit-and-run accident that seriously injured a Hayden man last summer.

Richard Harris, 32, Patrick Grinage, 25, and Joshua Acord, 23, have been accused of helping Thomas Coleman, the driver and owner of the 1983 maroon Porsche 911 convertible that struck and seriously injured Jerry Bryant, 44, in downtown Steamboat on June 23.

Coleman, 45, a Steamboat Springs resident, pleaded guilty to vehicular assault in February. His sentencing is set for June 16.

The three men, subcontractors who have worked for Coleman, told police they were in Breckenridge the night of the accident. They denied having any knowledge of the hit-and-run or talking to Coleman shortly after the incident.

However, police acquired phone records that indicate numerous phone calls were placed between Coleman's cell phone and Harris', Grinage's and Acord's cell phones between the evening of June 22 and morning of June 23.

The three men have been charged with false reporting and with being accessories to a crime. Separate two-day trials have been set for Harris, Grinage and Acord on May 19 and 20, May 27 and 28 and May 29 and 30, respectively.

Former Deputy District Attorney David Moffat, who no longer works for the 14th Judicial District, unsuccessfully pushed for a single trial for all three men.

The matter still could be settled out of court. Assistant District Attorney Kerry St. James said he would let the court know by Friday whether the trials would move ahead.

At a pretrial conference for Harris, Grinage and Acord last week, Harris' attorney, Erick Nordstrom, asked that a statement Coleman disclosed to police be made available to them before the trials.

Thomas Coleman originally faced additional charges of driving under the influence of alcohol, failing to notify police and leaving the scene of an accident involving injury.

According to police reports, Coleman hit Bryant about 1 a.m. June 23 near the intersection of Seventh Street and Lincoln Avenue then sped away and later abandoned his vehicle.

Bryant's skull and left thumb were fractured and his left knee was injured when he was thrown onto the sports car's hood and hit the windshield, shattering it, before landing on the street, where he remained until help arrived.

Police said Coleman drove another block before turning onto Eighth Street. An officer arrived within minutes of the incident and found the 1983 maroon Porsche 911 parked in front of Antares restaurant at 57 1/2 Eighth St. Coleman was nowhere to be found.

Colorado law requires motorists to remain at the scene of an accident and render assistance as necessary.

-- To reach Danie Harrelson call 871-4203

or e-mail dharrelson@steamboatpilot.com