PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — R.I. Public Transit Authority CEO Scott Avedisian is expected to step down in the coming days after being charged in a hit-and-run car collision at a McDonald's drive-thru last month, Target 12 has learned.

Two people familiar with the situation told Target 12 that Avedisian is in talks with the RIPTA board about the potential structure of an exit package. The board is scheduled to hold a special meeting on Thursday to discuss the CEO's behavior.

RIPTA spokesperson Cristy Raposo declined Wednesday morning to discuss the behind-the-scenes conversations about Avedisian. "I can confirm that his employment status has not changed," she said. "We have no further comment at this time."

Avedisian has pleaded not guilty to leaving the scene of an accident with damage. He is due back in court later this month.

In an interview with 12 News on Tuesday, RIPTA Chairman Peter Alviti said he had not yet spoken with Avedisian. (Alviti, who is also director of the R.I. Department of Transportation, was installed as board chairman last year.)

"He's got his hands full with legal entanglements with the traffic violation itself," Alviti said of Avedisian, "and we wanted to afford him some time to think things out on his own before we met with him, and have the board members formulate their questions."

Alviti added, "Look, I mean -- there are a lot of questions surrounding the propriety and the actual event that happened."

While Avedisian has not been charged with driving under the influence, multiple witnesses told police he appeared intoxicated at the time of the collision involving two other drivers. Police said Avedisian initially signaled for the other drivers to pull into a parking lot and then took off.

Police said Avedisian was driving a RIPTA-issued car at the time, which they quickly found afterward parked in the driveway of his Warwick home. Police said the front end was damaged and the engine hood was still warm. Yet Avedisian didn't answer to officers repeatedly ringing his doorbell and knocking on his door.

Avedisian had served as the head of RIPTA since then-Gov. Gina Raimondo appointed him in 2018. He previously served for nearly two decades as the mayor of Warwick.

Former R.I. House Speaker John Harwood, who is representing Avedisian in the criminal case, called the public allegations that Avedisian was drunk at the time of the crash "a stretch." R.I. Attorney General Peter Neronha's office is handling the case.

Avedisian has not answered any questions publicly since the time of the incident.

Ted Nesi, Kim Kalunian and Alexandra Leslie contributed to this report.