Deputies say woman seen falling from SUV is OK; no charges to be filed

TAMPA (FOX 13) - Deputies say they’ve now found the woman seen on video falling out of a moving SUV, and they believe the incident – which they initially called disturbing – was just an accident.

It all started just after 4 p.m. Monday when 911 callers reported seeing a woman fall from a Ford Expedition in the middle of the intersection of 131st Avenue and 15th Street. Surveillance footage showed the woman hit the ground and remain there while the SUV stopped and a man got out.

The man then dragged the woman back to the vehicle, put her inside, and drove off.

Because the woman “appeared to be injured and unconscious,” deputies said, they wanted to find her and make sure she was OK.  But a check of local hospitals did not generate any leads, and her identity remained a mystery even after the SUV was found this morning near Nebraska and Fowler avenues.

Now, though, deputies say they are confident that the woman is OK. They identified her as a 21-year-old Tampa woman who was headed home from Walmart with her boyfriend, his sister, and her 1-year-old son.

Deputies say the adults in the SUV all told detectives that she simply leaned against the front door – which had apparently been damaged at some point – and fell out.  She suffered road rash on her legs and elbows but did not seek medical treatment.

Based on those findings, no charges are being filed. But deputies did ask anyone with information “that may place the investigation in a different light” to call them.