EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Police say a Eugene, Ore., man accused of aiming his pickup truck at a neighbor out walking his dog has surrendered.
The Register-Guard reports that 33-year-old Frank Mario Ochoa was booked into the Lane County Jail on Monday for investigation of attempted murder, first-degree assault, hit and run driving and first-degree animal abuse.
Police allege that Ochoa ran his truck into a 50-year-old man and his dog as they walked on a sidewalk on March 14. The pickup then hit another vehicle and finally crashed into a garage. The driver ran off. A police spokeswoman says the victim remains hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. The dog was killed.
Ochoa’s lawyer, Michael Arnold, says his client and the injured man were friendly before becoming involved in a recent, unspecified dispute. He contends the victim had threatened his client.
