3 Amish children injured in alleged drunken buggy hit-and-run in Bath County

MOUNT STERLING, Ky. (FOX 56) — An alleged drunken hit-and-run on Thursday on Kentucky Highway 11 left three Amish children injured, Kentucky State Police said.

Troopers were called to the scene of an accident just after 5 p.m. on July 24 in Sharpsburg. Witnesses reportedly told troopers that a black Toyota Camry hit an Amish buggy after swerving and attempting to pass on the right shoulder.

The driver, later identified as 21-year-old Ricardo Gerinimo Salas of Mount Sterling, allegedly kept driving and stopped down the road to check the car for damage before driving off. Troopers note that witnesses claim Salas could barely stand and had to have been intoxicated.

An ambulance took three children to the UK Medical Center. Court documents report that their father was uninjured.

Authorities traced the vehicle to Salas using the license plate number provided by witnesses at the scene. When troopers arrived at the Mount Sterling home on Fogg Pike, they said they found Salas passed out in the back seat of the car. Further, he’d allegedly covered the damaged vehicle with a tarp.

“2 parts of the vehicle left at the collision scene matched up to this front-end damage,” the responding trooper wrote.

Salas was reportedly unsteady on his feet and had bloodshot, watery eyes and smelled of alcohol. Troopers said he was taken to an area hospital for a blood test.

The results are pending, per court documents.

He’s been charged with four counts of first-degree assault, tampering with physical evidence, operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, failure to maintain required insurance, operating on a suspended or revoked license, reckless driving, and leaving the scene of an accident.

Arrest records show a $20,000 cash bond was set on Friday.