Former mayoral candidate arrested for DUI, hit-and-run
Charles Scovell II
Charles Scovell II, 36, owner of Charlie Scovell Tree, was arrested late Tuesday night after Atascadero Police got a report from someone who heard Scovell’s vehicle crash into a tree on the south end of Atascadero Avenue.
Atascadero Sgt. Caleb Davis said Scovell’s car was flipped over when officers arrived and a tree had been severed. Though he said the caller had said the car was occupied, when officers arrived, it was empty. It took nearly an hour for officers to local Scovell and his passenger, Davis said.
Though no pedestrian was hurt in the crash, Davis said, the passenger was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Scovell was charged with suspicion of felony driving under the influence and felony hit-and-run, which is defined as any incident where a person leaves the scene of an accident that causes damage to properties or injury or death to a person.
In the November 2014, Scovell challenged incumbent Tom O’Malley for the mayoral seat. Though Scovell lost, he received 40 percent of the vote. This is not Scovell’s first run-in with the law, according to the San Luis Obispo Superior Court, his criminal record includes minor offenses in his late teenage years and early 20s, from possessing alcohol as minor to reckless driving.
Scovell was booked into SLO County Jail in the early hours of Wednesday and was released that day.
