Cary police: Drunken man slams van after hot dog dispute

Cary, N.C. — A Cary hot dog vendor says an angry, drunken driver intentionally crashed into his van twice early Wednesday after he refused to sell the man a hot dog and drink for $1.

Police said that David Lance Kelbaugh, 23, of Rolesville, had been drinking before he left the Pure Gold Club, 301 N. Harrison Ave., around 2 a.m. and tried to order food at Fady Awad's stand outside the club.

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Vendor describes attack on hot-dog van

Kelbaugh told the vendor that he had $1 and wanted a hot dog and drink, police said.  "I was very nice to him, and I told him, 'You cannot do that,'" Awad said.

Kelbaugh then yelled at Awad, got in his car, rammed it into the vendor's van and ran into a brick column. But the driver wasn't done, Awad said.

"He go and make a reverse again, and he hit me one more time," the vendor said.

"I was inside. I just jumped and hurt and heard something in my neck click," Awad said. Police said Awad's back was injured in the crash. He was treated at a nearby hospital and released several hours later.

Awad said he was worried the propane tanks in his van would explode.

"(It was) very lucky, because I was inside very close to the tanks, very close to the gas," he said.

Officers pulled Kelbaugh over a short time later on Old Apex Road. He was charged with assault with a deadly weapon, DWI, hit-and-run, injury to personal property and injury to real property. He is free on a $6,000 bond and will appear in court at a later date, according to court records.

Awad said he wonders who will pay for the damage to the customized cart in which he's worked for six years to support his family.

"All this is gone – the grill, the cash register," he said. "I work very had just to fix this car. This was my dream, and it's gone."