Court documents allege that a Hanover man was "shooting up" while driving a stolen vehicle when the car crashed head-on into another vehicle near Hanover.
Christopher Griffith, 39, of Hanover, was charged by police with a felony count of receiving stolen property and misdemeanor counts of DUI, accidents involving injury, flight to avoid apprehension, possession of drug paraphernalia, resisting arrest, and a summary count of obedience to traffic control devices.
The charges stem from a two-vehicle crash that occurred around 10:39 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, on Moulstown Road near Trolley Road in Heidelberg Township, according to court records.
The crash involved a black PT Cruiser, which was reported stolen out of Hanover Borough, and a black GMC Acadia SUV, which had an adult female and a 11-year-old girl inside it, court documents state.
According to police, the PT Cruiser failed to negotiate a curve on Moulstown Road and crossed the double yellow lines, striking the Acadia head-on.
Both occupants of the Acadia were injured, court documents state, with the adult female suffering a broken nose and the 11-year-old suffering a broken clavicle.
Griffith, who was admitted to York Hospital, is awaiting a preliminary hearing on the charges.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, while officers were en route to the crash scene, a witness reported to 911 dispatchers that the driver of one of the vehicles had fled the scene.
The affidavit states that dispatchers then additionally advised officers that the vehicle the driver had fled from had been reported stolen out of Hanover.
Officers located the driver in a field behind the 1400 block of Jacobs Mill Road a short time later, and he was identified as Griffith, according to the affidavit.
Griffith was taken into custody at gunpoint, the affidavit states, and then was found to be bleeding from a head wound.
When detained, Griffith claimed he was just a passenger in the vehicle, which he said was driven by a "homeless person whom he did not know," and that he had been picked up in Hanover, according to the affidavit.
In the affidavit, officers describe indications of impairment from Griffith, who allegedly "began nodding off" in the back of the patrol car.
Griffith told officers he had a needle with heroin and fentanyl in it about an hour before the crash, but that it was in the other occupant's backpack, the affidavit states.
Police then picked up the other occupant of the vehicle in a cemetery near the crash site, who was identified as Nicolas Wich, 31, of Hanover, according to the affidavit.
Wich, who had an active bench warrant out of Hanover Borough, told officers he had fled the scene due to the warrant, the affidavit states.
After being taken into custody, Wich told officers he was the passenger in the vehicle, and that Griffith was the one driving, according to the affidavit.
Wich additionally told police that Griffith was "shooting up" while he was driving, the affidavit states, and a burnt spoon and Brillo pad were found on the floor of the driver's side of the vehicle.
Wich was taken into custody on the bench warrant and remains confined at York County Prison.
The affidavit notes that Wich had no blood on him, nor any open wounds, though blood was found smeared on the driver's side airbag. The affidavit goes on to note that the blood on the driver's side of the airbag "coincides with the blood on Griffith's face."
While blood was also found on the passenger door, the affidavit states that the driver's side door of the vehicle was crushed shut, and that the driver would have had to exit the vehicle through the passenger door.
Once at York Hospital, Griffith attempted to leave, requiring "substantial force" for hospital staff and officers to overcome, according to the affidavit.
Both vehicles were towed to an impound to await a search warrant, and a search warrant was requested for Griffith's blood, the affidavit states.
Griffith is awaiting a preliminary hearing on the charges, and Wich is awaiting a pre-trail conference related to the bench warrant.
Harrison Jones is the Hanover reporter for the Evening Sun. Reach him at hjones@gannett.com .
This article originally appeared on Hanover Evening Sun: Affidavit: Man was 'shooting up' while driving stolen car that crashed into SUV with child
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