On Wednesday, the former star of ‘The Partridge Family’, David Cassidy, pled not guilty to leaving the scene of an accident after allegedly hitting a delivery truck and driving off.
Cassidy was accused of sideswiping the truck on Interstate 595 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on September 9th.
Witnesses say Cassidy was driving at a high rate of speed and swerving into other lanes before he crashed into the truck and drove off. A woman who was helping the truck driver got into her vehicle and chased after Cassidy as he fled the scene. She says the actor briefly stopped to cover his license plate with a piece of clothing — that’s when she snapped a photo, which she later sent to police.
According to the Daily Mail, officers found Cassidy at a nearby Clinic and issued citations for improper lane change, unknowingly operating a vehicle with a suspended drivers license due to a previous DUI conviction and operating a vehicle with an expired registration.
He was not tested for drugs or alcohol, despite several witnesses claiming to have smelled alcohol on his breath.
On Wednesday, October 14th, the actor official pled ‘not guilty’ to the charges.
The truck driver who was struck by Cassidy’s 2014 Kia Sportage says the actor was driving ‘like a crazy man’ before he slammed into his truck.
“I remember I was in the middle lane when I felt something hit me in the back of the truck, on my tire. It made the truck [swerve] and almost rolled the truck.” said 46-year-old truck driver Pedro Vargas.
Cassidy’s car was towed from the hospital due to the extensive damage that it sustained in the crash. The damage to the truck was estimated at $12,000.
Cassidy has openly admitted to having an alcohol problem in the past, and was arrested on three separate DUI charges since 2010.