Preston ― Police arrested a Sprague woman Wednesday on charges she struck her boyfriend with a car as he was walking along Route 164, causing life-threatening injuries.

Gabrielle Delvalle-Colon, 37, of 76 Noah’s Way turned herself in to state police to face felony assault and drunken driving charges linked to a Feb. 18 crash.

Police said they had arrived at the scene of the 12:13 a.m. crash to find a BMW 328xi had hit a tree on the side of Route 164, near the intersection of Route 2. Police found 33-year-old Evan N. Luca of Westerly lying on the ground, Delvalle-Colon’s head on his chest, police reports show. Luca was bleeding heavily from the head from a suspected impact with the windshield of the car, according to the arrest warrant affidavit in the case.

Luca was taken by ambulance to Backus Hospital in Norwich and later flown to Hartford Hospital for treatment of a traumatic brain injury, along with numerous other injuries.

Preliminary investigation into the crash revealed that the BMW had been traveling south on Route 164 when it crossed into the northbound lane and off the shoulder of the road where Luca was struck.

Luca, in an interview with police in August, said he and Delvalle-Colon had been at Clydesdale bar in Westerly on the night of the crash. She had become upset with him, abruptly wanted to leave the bar, and became “hysterical“ on the ride home, kicking the ground, hitting the dashboard and “acting like she was going to throw herself out of the car,” the affidavit states.

Luca told police he pulled over, got out and started walking away, calling a woman he knew for a ride.

“He then stated that his next memory was waking up in the hospital and being told by his mother that Delvalle-Colon had hit him with the car,” police said.

Police spoke to a witness, a friend of Luca who is not identified in police reports, who confirmed she had received a call from Luca asking to be picked up. When the witness asked him why, “Luca responded that Delvalle-Colon was ‘trying to hit him with her car,“’ the arrest warrant states.

“Witness #1 then said that she heard a car engine revving, followed by Victim screaming, and then the sound of a car engine getting further away until it could no longer be heard over the phone,” the warrant states.

When questioned about what happened, police said Delvalle-Colon made several contradictory statements that did not match up with the evidence. Delvalle-Colon confirmed she was a passenger in the vehicle but after an argument with Luca had escalated, she had “jumped” from the car “as soon as it was not moving.”

Luca pulled up to her to pick her up and she said she jumped into the driver’s seat and drove off. Delvalle-Colon told police she decided to turn around and pick Luca up but was traveling at a high rate of speed and “ended up hitting him,” the arrest warrant states. She claims the brakes “slipped.”

Police said Delvalle-Colon’s speech was slow and slurred and there was an odor of alcohol and marijuana coming from the car. Delvalle-Colon was legally drunk at the time of the crash, with a blood alcohol level of .08 percent, police reports show. Police also found marijuana and cocaine in the car.

Asked if her judgment was impaired due to alcohol, marijuana and cocaine she had consumed that night, police said Delvalle-Colon said, “I’m sure it definitely was. I mean, obviously I couldn’t drive correctly under those conditions.”

Delvalle-Colon is charged with first-degree assault, second-degree assault with a motor vehicle, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and possession of a controlled substance.

She was held in lieu of a $150,000 bond and was due to appear Thursday in Norwich Superior Court.

Attorney John Nazzaro, with the New London-based Reardon Law Firm, said Luca remains in treatment and is in physical therapy, “trying to deal with his limitations.”

“It’s going to be a long road,” Nazzaro said.

Despite the seriousness of his injuries, Nazzaro said Luca “has no ill will” toward Delvalle-Colon.

“He’s aware she has issues to address but has no animus towards her at all and is focused on his recovery,” Nazzaro said.

Nazzaro said he and Rhode Island-based lawyer Michael Cozzolino represent Luca in a civil action.

g.smith@theday.com