A Sullivan woman is facing a misdemeanor charge after investigators allege she provided false information during the investigation of a hit-and-run crash in Linton.

Sharon L. Turpen, 76, of Sullivan, was arrested at 11:18 a.m. July 7 on a preliminary charge of false informing.

According to a probable cause affidavit, Linton Police Officer Andrew Mifflin was dispatched to the area of 190 A St. NE at approximately 2:04 p.m. July 6 for a report of a vehicle crash involving a driver who left the scene.

The victim told police she was traveling westbound on State Road 54 near Second Street NE after leaving Jiffy Treet when another vehicle crossed into her lane, causing a collision. Despite attempting to avoid the crash by braking and sounding her horn, the other driver struck her vehicle before leaving through the Kang's Gas Station parking lot. Neither the driver nor her child, who was a passenger, was injured, though the vehicle sustained front-end damage.

Investigators also interviewed witnesses who reported seeing a white Honda Fit hatchback leave the scene without stopping. Officers later reviewed surveillance footage from nearby businesses and identified the vehicle as a white 2013 Honda Fit registered to Turpen.

Police contacted Turpen by phone, and according to the affidavit, she admitted she had been driving the vehicle and had left the scene after striking another car. However, investigators said her statement conflicted with witness accounts and surveillance footage, which reportedly showed a white male driving the vehicle.

During a subsequent interview, Turpen again stated she had been driving at the time of the crash. After officers confronted her with evidence that contradicted her account, she ultimately told investigators a male individual had been driving the vehicle. She also identified the male as the driver shown in the surveillance image from Kang's Gas Station, according to the affidavit.

Turpen was taken into custody and transported to the Greene County Jail on a preliminary charge of false informing.

She is scheduled to appear in Greene Superior Court July 13 for an initial hearing.