Man guilty of hitting pedestrian, OWI, fleeing the scene of collision

A 33-year-old Farmersburg, Iowa man was charged Nov. 16 in Crawford County Circuit Court with one count of hit and run - great bodily harm, and one count of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated causing injury - first offense, with a prohibited alcohol concentration of .15 or more.

Christopher K. Gossman entered a plea of no contest on Nov. 16 and was found guilty on both counts.

A sentencing hearing for Gossman has been scheduled for Jan. 13, 2016 at 1:30 p.m. in Crawford County Circuit Court. Gossman faces up to 16 years in prison and fines totaling $52,000.

According to the criminal complaint, Prairie du Chien police officers responded to the scene of an accident on Oct. 31 at approximately 10:50 p.m. in which a pedestrian was struck by a pickup truck.

Gossman and his vehicle were located in Clayton County about an hour later and Gossman admitted to Clayton County Sheriff’s deputies that he had several mixeddrinks and that on his way home, he had hit a pedestrian in Prairie du Chien. Gossman told deputies that he then “freaked out” and fled the area and drove back to his residence, the complaint said.

Gossman consented to an intoxymeter test which showed that he had an ethanol value of .15, according to the complaint.

The victim, Tracy Hutchins, 63, of Prairie du Chien, sustained serious injuries in the accident, including swollen, black and blue eyes and several cuts, scrapes and abrasions about his face, a broken jaw in two places, broken vertebrae, broken ribs, and a “shattered” right knee. Hutchins also sustained facial fractures and an intracranial bleed. He had surgery on his leg, according to the complaint.