photo by: Douglas County Sheriff's Office

Andrew A. Walden

A 25-year-old Iola man has pleaded no contest in connection with a hit-and-run accident that occurred in Lawrence more than two years ago.

Andrew A. Walden admitted to police that he rear-ended a broken-down Dodge Neon that several people were trying to push in the lanes of the 900 block of West 23rd Street, then kept on driving, according to a police affidavit in the case. That was just before 1 a.m. May 19, 2017.

Walden’s arrest came nearly two years after the crash.

On Thursday, Walden entered a plea of no contest to leaving the scene of an accident involving great bodily harm and two counts of aggravated battery, according to Cheryl Wright Kunard, assistant to the Douglas County district attorney.

A pending civil lawsuit against Walden seeks damages in excess of $75,000 for “economic losses, grievous physical injury, disfigurement, past and future medical bills, lost wages, lost earning capacity, past and future mental anguish and medically significant emotional distress,” the Journal-World has reported. The lawsuit is set for a pretrial conference on Nov. 8 and a jury trial beginning Dec. 9.

Walden’s sentencing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Nov. 12, Wright Kunard said via email.