FARMINGTON — A state case worker said she feared for her life while being struck by a vehicle intentionally driven at her on Wednesday, according to authorities in an affidavit of probable cause.

Wayne R. Nichols, 67, was later taken into custody without further incident, Delaware State Police said, and charged with second-degree assault and first-degree reckless endangering.

Wayne R. Nichols

Authorities said the sequence at a residence in the 1000 block of Staytonville Road unfolded when a 41-year-old female Division of Family Services employee was conducting a follow-up on an investigation at approximately 2:50 p.m.

As the worker was in the yard speaking with an adult who lives at the home, police alleged Mr. Nichols arrived and drove a red Kia toward the two. The case worker attempted to jump out of the way, but was struck in the lower leg, “causing physical injury and substantial pain ...,” police said in court documents.

The injury was non-life-threatening, police said.

The worker then ran from the yard and entered her car, police said, and Mr. Nichols allegedly drove his vehicle toward her again, stopping just short of hitting the driver’s-side door.

The worker then fled in her vehicle to a residence in the 1200 block of Staytonville Road and called 911, police said in documents.

The worker met an arriving Delaware State Police trooper in a driveway and “stated the operator of the vehicle was a black male,” according to documents. Mr. Nichols was identified after a Criminal Justice Information System inquiry, according to authorities.

Mr. Nichols was taken to Troop 3 in Camden. After charges were filed, he was arraigned at Justice of the Peace Court 7 in Dover and held at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center near Smyrna on $4,000 secured bond.