Former friends testify in Scottdale vehicular assault trial

Nicole Moore and Tiara Stout and their children once vacationed together in Virginia Beach.

A year later, Moore was in jail, charged with running down Stout with her car outside a Scottdale apartment building.

Both women testified Tuesday during the second day of Moore’s trial in Westmoreland County.

Moore is accused of injuring her former friend after a confrontation between the women in which Moore claimed she was attacked by Stout and responded.

Moore, 28, now of Mt. Pleasant, is charged with aggravated assault, fleeing the scene of a crash, reckless endangerment and simple assault in connection with the April 11, 2022, incident outside of the Pittsburgh Street apartment building that left Stout with broken bones, including a fractured pelvis, and tire marks on her face.

“I was just afraid, and I wanted to get away. I didn’t know Ms. Stout was there and in the area,” Moore testified. “I was scared for my life as bricks were flying.”

Prosecutors contend the incident started after Stout, upon returning home from a shopping trip, spotted Moore’s Kia Forte parked in the gravel lot behind the apartment building with her 3-year-old son alone in the vehicle. Stout testified she directed a friend to call 911 as she assessed the situation.

Moore returned to the car and confronted her former friend, Stout testified.

The argument turned violent when Moore retrieved a baseball bat from the vehicle and struck her, Stout told jurors. Stout said she responded by throwing a brick at Moore before she attempted to move away from the car as Moore drove off.

“I started to walk away when she started to back away. She put it in drive and drove over railroad ties and into the grass where I was walking, and she ran me over. My foot got caught underneath the fender, and she started peeling tire on my face,” Stout testified. “She backed up once over me, put it in drive and ran over me again.”

Jurors viewed cellphone video of the incident recorded by Stout’s friend that depicted both women arguing and Moore backing out of a parking spot before she accelerated forward and struck her victim.

Stout claimed she was concerned about Moore’s child being left alone in the vehicle.

Moore contended she had left the child for just a minute or two to retrieve cigarettes and money left at her friend’s apartment, where she had visited earlier in the day. She testified she was confronted by a screaming Stout when she returned to the vehicle.

“She used to be a friend, but she is crazy,” Moore said. She goes after people all the time. She’s always had some kind of nasty jealousy,” Moore testified.

Moore told jurors Stout kicked her and slammed her into the car door as she attempted to enter the vehicle to drive off.

She said her friendship with Stout ended about a year earlier following an incident on their return trip from the beach. Stout struck her in the face while at a West Virginia gas station, Moore testified.

Moore told jurors she had little contact with Stout during the next year until the incident in Scottdale, where she feared for the safety of her son and herself .

“If she had left me alone like I told her, this wouldn’t have happened,” Moore testified.

Jurors are expected to hear closing arguments and begin deliberations Wednesday.