CHARLOTTE — A driver who struck an ambulance while driving 100 mph in 2023 testified Monday about what he does and doesn’t remember.
Brian Ogbanna was a student at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte when the crash occurred. He said he was driving to the library when everything went dark.
“After work, I go back home... and because I’m a full-time student... I have to go to the library so I can do all my work,” he said.
Ogbanna is on trial for failure to move over, causing serious injury, as well as three counts of assault with a deadly weapon.
He told the jury he remembered getting into his car and turning left on Mallard Creek Church Road to head to the university’s library around midnight. And the next thing he remembers is waking up in the emergency room.
Ogbanna said he has no memory of crashing into the ambulance on May 12, 2023, on North Tryon Street.
Officials said he was not impaired, and because of his injuries, they never had a chance to interview him and get his side of the crash.
He broke his legs in seven places and hurt his head in the crash, he testified. The following month, he ended up in the emergency room again and was referred to a neurologist.
Marcelino Bailey is an EMT who was in the courtroom when Ogbanna testified. He said the testimony added some context, but he still has questions about how he lost consciousness.
“Personally, I don’t think something like that can happen without either some type of severe medical complaint that happened while he was driving or pure lack of care,” Bailey said.
Ogbanna’s attorney asked him several times how he felt knowing three people were hurt in the crash.
“I just feel really remorseful,” he said.
He began crying in the courtroom as he talked about how horrible he feels and how much pain it has caused.
WATCH: ‘Couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move’: EMT recalls crash into ambulance with patient inside
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