Charges Following Columbia Christmas Eve Accident

A Columbia man now faces charges of tampering with a motor vehicle, resisting arrest, and leaving the scene of an accident in connection to an accident on Forum Boulevard Christmas Eve that left another man hurt. According to court documents, 20-year-old Avion Skillman is accused of stealing the pickup from the 27-hundred block of Chambray Road Sunday morning. An officer spotted the truck on Bellview Drive, near Scott Boulevard, around 9 Sunday night. Skillman sped off, sometimes exceeding 100 miles per hour, and eventually struck a car driven by 61-year-old Ronald Ballenger head-on. Ballenger suffered moderate injuries and was taken to University Hospital. Skillman was not hurt. He ran from the scene, before being tased nearby on a fairway at the County Club of Missouri.