Allegedly high Kennewick driver slams into Walmart shopper, throwing him
A Kennewick man believed to be high on drugs is suspected of slamming into a Walmart customer.
Police investigators said Codie J. Supak, 43, didn’t even try to stop after hitting the man, knocking him the width of two cars. He then slammed into a parked pickup truck.
The incident happened about 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 24, court documents said.
Supak has since pleaded innocent in Benton County Superior Court to one count of vehicular assault and is being held in Benton County jail in lieu of $50,000 bail.
A Petco employee had first called Kennewick police about 2:15 p.m. to check on a driver who had been unconscious in his Honda since 10 a.m. outside the store in a shopping area north of the Walmart, said court documents.
Officer MaKinna Bruns and others tried to wake him by knocking on the window and had to open the door and physically wake him up.
“Codie showed confusion to where he was and what time it was,” Bruns wrote. “I inquired if he felt safe to drive or (if) he was too tired.”
After being asked to leave, Supak drove across 27th Avenue to the Walmart parking lot.
About 15 minutes later, he apparently decided to leave the lot and struck the customer loading groceries into his car and then hit the truck. The customer hit his head and suffered road rash on his arms and legs, court documents said.
The truck’s owner was in the pickup when it was hit but wasn’t injured.
Supak, who had a puppy with him, had trouble focusing and keeping his eyes open, said Officer Bruns wrote.
“If I left Codie alone and did not talk to him or ask him questions, he would freeze in what looked like an uncomfortable position and begin nodding off with his eyelids partially open and his eyes rolled back,” Bruns said. “I noticed this ‘nodding off’ to be consistent with narcotic use.”
Investigators also reported finding a glass pipe in the center console of Supak’s car.
He blamed his front tires for causing his car to jerk to the side, court documents said.