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Littlerock man convicted after injury hit and run at scouting event

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

A 24-year-old South Thurston County man was found guilty by a jury this afternoon of two counts of vehicular assault and also hit and run.

Kody M. Chipman, whose residence has been described as both in Rochester and Tenino, was on trial in Thurston County Superior Court.

Two men were seriously injured when Chipman knocked them down with the open door of his car when he fled a confrontation about his speeding on a private driveway in Olympia in late March.

Chipman most recently lived with his grandmother in Littlerock whom he has been helping take care of.

Sharon Hallman, 64, said psychiatrists from both sides agreed about her grandson’s ‘fearful response” to the men’s confrontation, but jurors weren’t allowed to hear from them.

Chipman’s attorney spoke to the jury after they reached their verdict and they told him regardless of what the two men did, the car outweighed them, Hallman said.

Dee L. Cooper, 70, of Olympia, and Daniel I. Kitchings, 37, of Rainier, were attending a scout meeting off of South Bay Road and were standing on the driver’s side of the car, when Chipman put the car in reverse and drove off, according to the Washington State Patrol after the March 31 incident.

Hallman said she was told her grandson faces as much as 10 years when he is sentenced on October 26.

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