Courtesy: Polk County Sheriff's Office
DUNDEE, Fla. - A Dundee woman has been arrested after deputies say she struck a motorcyclist after running a red light, two stop signs and left the injured driver lying on the ground.
The backstory:
According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, the crash happened shortly before 5:40 p.m. on Sunday at the intersection of W. Central Avenue and 2nd Street NW in Winter Haven.
Investigators said Cresenciana Mazinis, 55, was traveling eastbound in a Honda CRV on W. Central Avenue at a high rate of speed when she did not stop or slow down for one red light and two stop signs and struck a motorcyclist who entered the intersection southbound on 2nd Street NW.
Post-impact, investigators said the motorcyclist was thrown off the bike, landed on the hood of Mazinis’ Honda and was carried about 25 feet before falling to the ground.
After the crash, Mazinis got out of her vehicle and walked away, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
Witnesses told investigators that they tried to stop her, but she kept walking away.
Using a description given by 911 callers, Winter Haven police found Mazinis about two blocks away from the crash.
The officers said she gave no information at the scene, saying that she had somewhere else that she needed to be and later complained of a leg injury.
Mazinis was taken to an area hospital, treated and released into the custody of law enforcement officers.
Dig deeper:
First responders found the motorcyclist lying in the grass.
He was taken to an area hospital with severe injuries, including multiple broken bones in his legs and feet and a traumatic head injury. He was not wearing a helmet.
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Mazinis was arrested and charged with reckless driving with serious bodily injury and leaving the scene of a crash with serious bodily injury.
She was also charged with violation of probation for a prior 2024 trespassing case.
Since she refused to sign the citations issued to her, deputies added another misdemeanor charge of refusal to sign citations.
What they're saying:
"This driver left a man on the ground with life-threatening injuries and tried to flee from her responsibility," said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd. "We are grateful for the witnesses who stayed at the scene and immediately called 911 with a description of the driver -- their quick actions helped our deputies and the Winter Haven Police Department locate her and make sure she was held accountable."
The Source: This article was written with information from a press release provided by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.