Jun 22, 2019 2 min read

A man is facing charges after police say he recently crashed his truck into the Jefferson Hotel and fled on foot.

Robert Edward Denman Jr., 38, of 218 Randolph St., Carmichaels, had been driving his pickup truck on Route 188 in Jefferson when he left the roadway and struck a pole before striking the hotel several times about 12:45 a.m. June 5, according to state police.

The hotel manager, Peggy Novak, said the bartender and one customer were in the building at the time of the crash, but no one was injured.

“It was surprising to come to work the next day to see the debris from the wreck on the sidewalk,” she said.

Novak said there was some structural damage to the building, but it is still able to be occupied.

“He busted up some bricks, the door was broken and he cracked the windows,” she said.

Denman’s car appeared to have scraped along the side of the building before coming to rest in a nearby patch of grass. Police said though Denman fled the scene, he left a cellphone in the truck. Police confiscated the phone for evidence, and after a few days, Denman called them to inquire about where his phone was, the criminal complaint said.

Denman allegedly told police that he fled because he was “scared of being beat up,” the criminal complaint said. Police charged him with not attending to an accident involving damage and three summary traffic violations.