HOHHOT, China, May 11 (UPI) -- An American has been accused of hitting and injuring a pedestrian while driving under the influence of alcohol in China, officials said Friday.
The American was identified by the Baotou Municipal People's Procuratorate as Peck Guy Edward, a teacher at the Inner Mongolia University of Science and Technology, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The man had borrowed a mini-bus from a friend early on March 3 and allegedly hit a pedestrian at a crossroads, then fled the scene, authorities said.
Xinhua said the man told police he left the scene because he feared he could not communicate with the injured person in Chinese and that he contacted an interpreter, who went back to the site with him 40 minutes later, but the victim had been taken to a hospital.
The pedestrian suffered a broken leg.
He turned himself in to police at 2:35 a.m. the day of the accident and allegedly had a blood-alcohol level of 105.1 milligrams per 100 milliliters of blood. Drivers with a blood-alcohol level of more than 20 milligrams per 100 milliliters of blood are considered in violation of Chinese law. Violators can be sent to prison.
China revised its law May 1, 2011, so all drunken driving now is considered a criminal offense.
