A 24-year-old Minneola woman was taken into custody on a felony charge after reportedly colliding with a construction vehicle on the Florida Turnpike and fleeing the scene, leaving a road worker seriously injured.
The crash happened shortly after 3 a.m. on Friday, June 12, in the northbound lanes of the Florida Turnpike near Mile Marker 274 in Lake County.
According to an arrest record from the Florida Highway Patrol, Milena Socorro Martinez was traveling northbound when she collided with a construction vehicle that was being used to set reflective markers on the road between the lanes.
The operator of the work vehicle sustained serious physical injuries and was treated on the site by Lake County EMS.
Martinez allegedly escaped north from the crash site rather than remaining there. A state policeman called to the site drove passed the incident and found Martinez’s vehicle approximately a mile away around Mile Marker 275.2, parked against the center median barrier wall.
The vehicle had a flat right front tire and significant front-end damage. The steering wheel airbag had deployed during the collision, but Martinez had merely tucked it out of the way to continue driving.
According to the allegation, Martinez was eventually 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 draw her attention, and Martinez was later positively recognized as the only occupant of the fleeing vehicle.
When questioned by the trooper, Martinez replied that she was “told that she hit someone” but that she had no idea what she had driven into. She couldn’t explain why she kept driving for a mile, saying only that she was on her way home to her apartment in Minneola, which is immediately off the close North Hancock Road exit.
Martinez was charged with a felony for fleeing the scene of a serious bodily injury crash. She also received a ticket for careless driving.
After receiving medical clearance at AdventHealth Minneola, she was taken into the Lake County Jail and released after posting a $10,000 bond.
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