Tampa Bay Criminal Defense Lawyer - Phone Call To Cops = Hit And Run Arrest!

By Nick Dorsten, Esq.

From the St. Petersburg Times website,an interesting story of how one woman's call to the police on a domestic violence complaint led to her arrest on a hit and run charge...

She called the Pinellas Sheriff's Office on Monday night and asked deputies to come kick her boyfriend out of their apartment on a domestic violence complaint.

But instead it was her who ended up leaving in handcuffs, authorities said, after her boyfriend revealed that the 33-year-old mother was the driver in a fatal hit and run crash 10 months ago in Pinellas Park.

The arrested's own call to authorities ended up implicating her in the Feb. 4 death of a victim of the hit and run, who died three days before her 51st birthday.

The victim was walking east across northbound 66th Street N when she was hit and fatally injured in the center lane near the 9700 block, according to police.

All Pinellas Park police knew then was that the victim was struck by a Ford truck, possibly an SUV, that lost its passenger side mirror and front turn signal.

But the case went cold for 10 months — until that evening.

The suspect called deputies to remove her boyfriend on a domestic violence complaint, according to the Sheriff's Office. He had just gotten out of the county jail after serving 40 days for an obtaining property with a worthless check charge. The suspect said she was scared of him. The boyfriend, 34, said he just wanted to see his 7-year-old daughter.

The boyfriend agreed to leave the Palm Harbor apartment. But as he walked out with the deputies, he pointed to a damaged black 1997 Ford Ranger in the apartment complex parking lot and said he had a story to tell them.

The shunned man then told deputies that the suspect borrowed a neighbor's pickup on Feb. 4 to drive to Pinellas Park to buy marijuana, authorities said. That night, the man told deputies, he said the suspect texted him that she had struck a deer.

Then, weeks later, the man told deputies that the suspect broke down and told him that she had actually hit someone on 66th Street N. She knew the person was dead, according to the man, but was too scared of going to jail to stop.

The pedestrian violated the driver's right of way that night, according to police. But under Florida law, police said, the driver had a legal obligation to stop and identify herself.

After the man told deputies what he knew Monday night, the Sheriff's Office called the Pinellas Park Police Department, which sent officers to Palm Harbor to question the suspect. She confessed, according to police, and was arrested.

When Pinellas Park police inspected the Ford Ranger they got their second break in the case that night: the neighbor's truck was still damaged and still missing parts. No repairs were made in the 10 months after the fatal crash.

"We found pieces of the turn signal and the passenger side mirror at the scene (of her death)," said a Pinellas Park police Sgt., "and they matched the parts that the vehicle was missing."

The suspect was also arrested on a warrant for driving with a suspended or revoked license. According to state records, her license was suspended in 2009 and 2010 for failing to pay traffic fines and last year she was cited for DUI.

She was booked into the Pinellas jail, where she was being held Tuesday in lieu of $52,250 bail.

Have you or someone you loved been arrested for a domestic violence or criminal charge? Then contact the law offices of Blake & Dorsten, P.A. to speak with an experienced Pinellas criminal defense lawyer now!

Our office is located at 4707 140th ave. N, Suite 107, Clearwater, FL 33762, across from the criminal courthouse and minutes from Tampa and St. Petersburg. You can contact your St. Petersburg criminal defense attorney by phone at 727.286.6141 or online at info@BlakeDorstenLaw.com.