A 24-year-old Minneola woman was arrested on a felony charge after she allegedly crashed into a construction vehicle on the Florida Turnpike and fled the scene, leaving a road worker with serious injuries.
The crash occurred shortly after 3 a.m. Friday, June 12, in the northbound lanes of the Florida Turnpike near Mile Marker 274 in Lake County.
According to an arrest report from the Florida Highway Patrol, Milena Socorro Martinez was driving northbound when her vehicle struck a work vehicle that was being used to place reflective markers on the roadway between the lanes.
The operator of the work vehicle suffered serious bodily injuries and was treated at the scene by Lake County EMS.
Instead of remaining at the crash site, Martinez allegedly fled north. A state trooper who was dispatched to the scene continued past the crash and located Martinez’s vehicle about a mile away near Mile Marker 275.2, stopped against the center median barrier wall.
The vehicle had a flat right front tire and extensive front-end damage. The steering wheel airbag had deployed during the crash, but Martinez had simply tucked it out of the way so she could continue driving.
The report noted that Martinez was finally forced to stop when road workers cleaning up the work zone flagged her down. One witness honked the horn of his flashing work truck to get her attention and later positively identified Martinez as the sole occupant of the fleeing vehicle.
When questioned by the trooper, Martinez stated she was “told that she hit someone” but claimed she did not know what she had crashed into. She could not explain why she continued driving for a mile, stating only that she was on her way home to her apartment in Minneola, just off the nearby North Hancock Road exit.
Martinez was arrested on a felony charge of leaving the scene of a crash involving serious bodily injury. She was also issued a citation for careless driving.
After being medically cleared at AdventHealth Minneola, she was booked at the the Lake County Jail and released after posting $10,000 bond.