Inset: The Kia that Charles Thorsen was driving when he allegedly mowed down two teens who were “harassing people” in the parking lot (Vancouver Police Department). Background: The Washington state Taco Bell where Charles Thorsen allegedly hit his victims (KOIN/YouTube.)
A Washington state man mowed down two teens at a Taco Bell with his Kia after seeing them “harassing people” and doing “dumb stuff” in the parking lot, cops and workers say.
“I”m going to run them over,” Charles Thorsen told staff at the Vancouver Taco Bell while watching the teens wreak havoc on May 12, according to court documents obtained by the local CBS affiliate KOIN. “I’m serious,” Thorsen allegedly said.
Vancouver Police say Thorsen did exactly what he said he was going to do and mowed them both down as they were riding an e-bike.
Police and paramedics responded to the scene after one of the victims was seriously injured, according to a VPD press release. The teen sustained a compound leg fracture after Thorsen allegedly nailed the e-bike the teens were riding with his Kia and then drove over the victim.
After launching an investigation, authorities determined that Thorsen “intentionally struck the bike with his vehicle, throwing both juveniles from the bike.” He told police he had planned on “knocking some sense into the children,” per cops. Thorsen was arrested on suspicion of vehicular assault.
Police say one of the victims is also facing charges related to the harassment and malicious mischief they caused in the parking lot.
“[The victims] had allegedly been recklessly driving through the parking lot, harassing people, damaging property, and preventing a vehicle from leaving the area,” according to VPD officials.
“They’re always in the middle of the road doing wheelies,” said Maddison Barnhart, a manager at a nearby business. “Just all sorts of dumb stuff. And I figured it would happen at one point.”
Coincidentally, police went to the home of the teen who is charged just days later to perform a welfare check after he was absent from school for nearly two weeks, according to KOIN. When they tried to arrest him for the Taco Bell incident, his mother allegedly sprayed an officer with a hose and was charged with third-degree assault.
