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August 06. 2006 12:00AM

Official: Victim had significant facial injury

Jennie Jones Giles
Times-News Staff Writer
jennie.giles@hendersonvillenews.com

A hit-and-run accident Saturday morning on the Greenville Highway left one man injured and blocked the road for more than an hour.

A Hispanic male driving a 2001 Ford truck traveling from Flat Rock toward Hendersonville about 8:30 a.m. made a left turn directly in front of a 2004 Ford Expedition, resulting in a head-on collision, said Hendersonville Police Lt. Tim Griffin.

"The driver of the Expedition suffered significant facial injuries," Griffin said.

The man was transferred by ground ambulance to Mission Hospitals in Asheville. The injuries were not life threatening. The passenger in the Expedition, a 4-year-old boy, was not injured. The name of the injured driver is being withheld at the request of the Police Department.

"The driver of the truck jumped out and ran," Griffin said.

Officers with the Hendersonville Police Department, including canines, and deputies with the Henderson County Sheriff's Department conducted a lengthy search for the driver, but could not locate him.

Arrested at the scene was Alejandro Rubio Nabarete, 22, of Mexico, the owner of the truck. He was charged with aiding and abetting a hit-and-run and resisting, obstructing and delaying officers.

Members of the Blue Ridge Fire and Rescue Department helped officers direct traffic around the scene for an hour and a half.

The driver is described as Hispanic, small in stature and in his early 20s. His hair was shaved on the sides and spiked in the middle, Griffin said. He was wearing bluejean shorts at the time of the accident.