A 40-year-old Ocala woman is behind bars after she allegedly fled the scene of a fatal crash that left an elderly man dead, and another man seriously injured, on Saturday night.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol incident report, the crash occurred at around 10:55 p.m. on Spring Road, near Spring Place, in Silver Springs Shores. A trooper noted that the area was dark with no street lighting at the time of the accident.
The report stated that a 49-year-old man from Ocala was traveling eastbound on Spring Road on a bicycle, and he was towing a motorized scooter that was occupied by an 84-year-old Ocala man. At the same time, a pickup truck being driven by a woman, identified as Mary Pate Wise, was heading westbound on the same road.
When the pickup truck was near the intersection of Spring Road and Spring Place, it proceeded to strike the bicycle and scooter with its right front section. After the collision, Wise allegedly fled the scene in a westerly direction, according to the report.
The scooter’s elderly occupant sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced deceased at the scene. The bicyclist sustained injuries that were described as “serious” in the report.
The Marion County Sheriff’s Office quickly located Wise within the same neighborhood where the crash occurred. The FHP report stated that Wise’s pickup truck was positively identified as the hit-and-run vehicle due to parts found at the scene of the accident matching the damage to her vehicle.
In addition, the trooper noted in the report that video footage from a nearby residence had recorded the crash, which “assisted in the positive identification of (Wise’s pickup truck).”
Wise was arrested and transported to Marion County Jail, where she is currently being held without bond. She is being charged with leaving the scene of a crash involving a death, leaving the scene of a crash involving serious bodily injury, and leaving the scene of a crash involving damage to property.
A court date has not been scheduled yet, according to jail records.