Defendant’s phone connected to vehicle moments before crash

Details emerged in a preliminary hearing for James Dillion Hatfield, 34, of Wetumpka, who is charged with felony leaving the scene of an accident with injury in November 2025 and first-degree assault from the same accident.

Hatfield wasn’t at the scene of the crash on Rifle Range Road that left a victim with life threatening injuries. Alabama Law Enforcement Agency troopers testified before Elmore County District Court Judge Glen Goggans that Hatfield was driving a black Chevrolet Silverado, crossed the center line of Rifle Range Road then struck a 2012 Hyundai Elantra.