Airman charged in hit-and-run that injured a 5-year-old
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on January 31, 2018 9:32 AM
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Russell Charles Dinkins
UPDATE ---- New charges added Wednesday allege the airman was intoxicated at the time of the wreck
An active-duty airman stationed at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base was arrested and charged Tuesday for allegedly hitting a 5-year-old boy with his truck Monday night and driving off.
Information released late-Wednesday suggests the airman was driving while intoxicated.
Russell Charles Dinkins, 23, of 1208 S. Best St., was initially charged Tuesday with felony hit and run and delaying and obstructing an investigation. Two additional charges ---- DWI and felony serious injury by motor vehicle ---- were instituted later.
The incident took place at about 6:54 p.m. Monday in front of T-Mobile on North Berkeley Boulevard.
D-shift officers with the Goldsboro Police Department responded to the wreck and learned a 5-year-old boy was crossing the road with his mother when he was hit by a red truck with Georgia plates.
The driver did not stop after hitting the child, according to a press release.
The boy was taken to Vidant Medical Center in Greenville for treatment. His mother was uninjured and provided the officers on scene with information about what happened.
Police say investigators developed a vehicle of interest and Dinkins turned himself in at the Wayne County Magistrate's Office Tuesday at about 11:30 a.m.
Dinkins was interviewed and released.
Then, at about 4:53 p.m. Tuesday, with the assistance of the SJAFB Office of Special Investigations, Dinkins was arrested and taken into custody.
Dinkins was placed in the Wayne County Detention Center under a $50,000 secured bond. Late Wednesday, however, a subsequent press release said that during a bond reduction hearing which lowered Dinkins' bond to $15,000, the DWI and felonious injury charges were added. Those charges brought with them an additional bond of $20,000, bringing the airman's total bond to $35,000 secured.
Dinkins is now scheduled for a first appearance in Wayne County Court on Feb. 1. The boy injured in the wreck remains at Vidant Medical Center at the time of this report. The latest information released by the police, he is listed in stable condition.