TAVARES, Fla.—Tavares Police Department is searching for a hit-and-run driver who fled the scene after striking a pedestrian Saturday night.
A man was crossing the street at State Road 19 and County Road 561 at 8:53 p.m., near McDonald’s, when a vehicle hit him, TPD Public Information Officer Courtney Sullivan said. That vehicle stopped, but a second vehicle, believed to be a white Ford F-150 or an F-250, hit the man a second time and fled southbound on County Road 561, according to Sullivan.
The man suffered non-life-threatening injuries; his name has not been released.
If you have information on the driver who fled, call TPD at 352-343-2101.
EUSTIS, Fla.—The driver who found the victim of a hit-and-run and used her school bus to shield the victim from oncoming traffic in Eustis last month was honored with Citizens Life Saving Award at the Eustis City Commission meeting Thursday night.
Eustis Police Chief Craig Capri presented a plaque to Stacey Hatcher, a 25-year veteran Lake County Schools bus driver for her “heroic act.”
“This is a great act of citizenship and caring about your fellow man,” Capri said.
Capri and Hatcher both believe the the height of the school bus helped her spot the victim lying in the road and Capri said Hatcher’s actions saved the victim’s life.
“Thank God Ms. Hatcher was in her school bus,” Capri said. “She’s an amazing person. She does an amazing job. We need more people, more citizens like this.”
Eustis Police Chief Craig Capri and Lake County Schools bus driver Stacey Hatcher share a hug at the Eustis City Commission meeting after Capri presented Hatcher with a Citizens Life Saving Award Thursday night. PHOTO: Marilyn M. Aciego/Inside Lake
Hatcher had just dropped off members of the Eustis High School Band at EHS, along with a second bus, and both drivers were headed to return the buses to the bus lot off Kurt Street when she found Abigail Stevens, 32, lying in the road on West Lakeview Avenue near the intersection of Morin Street, she told Inside Lake.
She called 9-1-1 and used her bus to shield Stevens from oncoming traffic while she waited for police to arrive. Stevens was suffering from serious injuries and has had several surgeries since she was struck and remains hospitalized.
Eustis Police Department is still investigating the case and said a white passenger car is the culprit. If you have information, call EPD at 352-357-4121.
EUSTIS, Fla.—Two 9-1-1 calls made following the hit-and-run crash that injured a pedestrian in Eustis Monday night have been released.
The calls made by two different people are difficult to listen to because both callers are emotional as they report the tragic situation. Stacey Hatcher, a Lake County Schools bus driver, found Abigail Stevens, 32, lying in the road on West Lakeview Avenue near Morin Street around 9 p.m. Monday night. Hatcher told Inside Lake in an exclusive interview Wednesday, God and fate put her in the right place at the right time.
Hatcher had just dropped off members of the Eustis High School Band at EHS, along with a second bus, and both drivers were headed to return the buses to the bus lot off Kurt Street when she found Stevens and called 9-1-1. Hatcher used her bus to shield Stevens from oncoming traffic, likely preventing her from getting hit by another vehicle and saving her life.
Listen to both 9-1-1 calls below:
Paint marks points of interest in hit-and-run investigation that injured Abigail Stevens, 32. She was found by a Lake County Schools bus driver lying in the road on West Lakeview Avenue near Morin Street Monday night. PHOTO: Marilyn M. Aciego/Inside Lake
“No way I would have let traffic through,” Hatcher said Wednesday. “Whoever hit her had to run her over or drag her. She was in bad shape.” Hatcher told Inside Lake, vehicles were trying to go around her and drivers were honking their horns—horns can be heard in the background of one of the 9-1-1 calls.
The community and Eustis Police Chief Craig Capri were quick call to Hatcher a hero.
“Mrs. (Stacey) Hatcher’s actions very likely saved a human life Monday,” Capri told Inside Lake.
At press time Thursday, Stevens remained hospitalized in stable condition, according to EPD Capt. Jon Fahning. Police are continuing to investigate and believe a white car may be involved. If you have information, call EPD at 352-357-4121.
EUSTIS, Fla.—The driver who found the victim of a hit-and-run and used her school bus to shield the victim from oncoming traffic in Eustis Monday night is being hailed a hero.
“Mrs. (Stacey) Hatcher’s actions very likely saved a human life Monday,” Eustis Police Chief Craig Capri said. “The world needs more people like her.”
Hatcher, a 25-year-veteran Lake County Schools bus driver, spoke only with Inside Lake Wednesday and said it was God and fate that put her in the right place at the right time around 9 p.m. Monday night.
“I just give God all the glory,” Hatcher said.
Hatcher had just dropped off members of the Eustis High School Band at EHS, along with a second bus, and both drivers were headed to return the buses to the bus lot off Kurt Street when she found Abigail Stevens, 32, lying in the road. As she sat at the light at East Lakeview Avenue and Bay Street, she made a last-minute decision to stay straight and cross over Bay Street to West Lakeview Avenue—a route she does not normally take, she told Inside Lake.
Stacey Hatcher
“I was actually talking to myself,” she said, “and something told me to go straight. I know it was fate.”
In an emotionally-charged interview, Hatcher told Inside Lake she is grateful she is the one who came through the intersection first because the buses sit so high, they allow the drivers to see more than a driver would see in regular vehicle.
“A car may have hit her,” she said.
As she approached the intersection of West Lakeview Avenue and Morin Street, she saw something in the road and thought it may be a Halloween prank. “What is that in the road?” she said to herself.
“I looked again and thought, ‘that can’t be a body,’ she told Inside Lake.
She quickly realized it was not a prank and started panicking a bit and called 9-1-1. She used her bus to shield Stevens from oncoming traffic while she waited for police to arrive. She said Stevens was suffering from serious injuries and an unknown person walked up and said, “That’s Abigail.” The person then left the scene.
“When I said, Abigail, she moved,” Hatcher said, and that was when she knew Stevens was alive.
Hatcher said other vehicles just kept driving by and some even honked their horns. “No way I would have let traffic through,” she said. “Whoever hit her had to run her over or drag her. She was in bad shape; her body was just twisted.”
Eustis Police Department is still investigating the case and they believe a white passenger car may be involved. They are asking residents and business owners to check their cameras and come forward if they have video footage or information.
Hatcher said she does not think she is a hero; she just did what she felt was right, but members of the community were quick to call her a hero and credit her with saving Stevens’ life when the story broke Tuesday.
EUSTIS, Fla.—Eustis Police Department is investigating after the victim of an apparent hit-and-run was found lying in the street Monday night by a school bus driver, who used her bus to block traffic until police arrived, according to a report.
Abigail Stevens, 32, was found lying on West Lakeview Avenue near Morin Street around 9 p.m. Monday by the bus driver who called police. The bus driver did not see who hit Stevens, she said. When police arrived, they observed Stevens was suffering from a head injury and a broken leg. She was unresponsive, but breathing and when Lake EMS arrived, they advised Stevens would be flown to Orlando Regional Medical Center and a Lake EMS lieutenant told officers her injuries were non-life-threatening, the report states. Her condition at press time was unknown.
Police believe a white passenger car may be involved. They are asking anyone who has cameras in the area to check their footage and are urging anyone with information to call them at 352-357-4121.
TAVARES, Florida—More than a year after a beloved local musician was killed in a hit-and-run crash, the driver pleaded guilty to leaving the scene and was sentenced to five years in prison Monday.
Inside Lake was in the courtroom when Justin Thomas Flower, 39, pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of the crash that killed Robert “Bobby” Wilson July 23, 2022. Flower was originally charged with manslaughter and leaving the scene of a crash causing death in November 2022, but as part of his plea agreement, the manslaughter charge was dropped, and he pleaded guilty to the remaining charge.
He was sentenced to five years in prison and must serve a minimum of four years but will get credit for the nearly four months he served following his arrest in November 2022; Flower was held on no bond in the Lake County Jail until the bond was reduced to $5,000 in late April, and as a condition of his bond he was fitted with a GPS ankle monitor. Flower will also lose his driver license for five years after he is released from prison.
Wilson’s mother, Valerie Newman and his son, Justin Wilson attended the hearing, but decided not to speak. Newman was visibly emotional as the charge and agreement was read in open court. She shared the statement she planned to read Monday with Inside Lake, and we chose to publish it in its entirety.
This is a heartbreaking day for me today. Part of me did not want to give any kind of a statement. But my heart needs to give a statement. I guess I just don’t understand why we even should be here. You and my son were friends, I thought. I just can’t understand, cannot comprehend, how you could be speeding down that road, hit and kill him, then drive away as if nothing ever happened. As if his life was worthless. But you did. But you need to know, his life was not worthless. Not only to his family, but to the hundreds, thousands, of people who have contacted us with broken hearts. He was precious to me, to his brother, to his stepfather, and to his children and grandchildren, and nieces and nephews. You will go to prison now. Sadly, if you hadn’t left him, you wouldn’t be. If you had stayed and called 911 immediately, his life might have been saved. But we will never know. I want you to know, however, that I do forgive you. I will pray for you. I will pray that you have an experience with God that will cushion you and guide you through the next few years. So that at some point in your life you can help to guide other young people into making the right decisions for their lives. I want Bobby’s life to be valuable and cherished. I want people to remember not only his music, but the amazing love he had for all of his friends, including you. – Valerie Newman
Robert “Bobby” Wilson was killed by a hit-and-run-driver in July 2022.
On July 23, 2022, Robert “Bobby” Wilson, 50, was attempting to push his minivan off a curb on Old U.S. Highway 441 across from Dairy Queen in Mount Dora when good Samaritan Michael Dickey saw him and stopped to help.
“I thought, man, somebody is going to hit him,” Dickey told Inside Lake earlier this year, “and I’ll be damned if what I thought happened.
Wilson’s tire could not gain any traction and after unsuccessfully trying to push the minivan off the curb, Dickey suggested they use his truck, a Nissan Frontier. Dickey had a flashlight in his hand and was starting to attach a strap to the minivan when the white 2015 Hyundai Genesis Flower was driving came speeding down Old U.S. Highway 441.
The Hyundai came straight at them, Dickey jumped out the way and the car struck Wilson first throwing him several feet, then struck the back end of Wilson’s minivan and finally Dickey’s truck, hitting it with such force, it spun around. All three vehicles were totaled.
All three vehicles involved in the crash that killed Robert “Bobby” Wilson were totaled. PHOTOS: Michael Dickey
Wilson was airlifted to Orlando Regional Medical Center after the crash, where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy later determined Wilson died from a skull fracture and brain bleed caused by the crash.
Flower fled the scene and managed to drive the mangled Hyundai about a half of a mile down the road. He got out of the car and, “He was pacing around and around,” Dickey told Inside Lake. Two unidentified women stopped to help him, and he reportedly told them he was fine, and “There’s a bad accident down there you need to go the other way.” The women continued toward the crash site, Dickey said, and “suddenly he (Flower) was gone,” but he left the disabled Hyundai in the middle of the road.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Mount Dora Police Department contacted the registered owner of the Hyundai and she said she lent the car to Flower and Flower was at a home on Morningside Drive, less than a mile from the crash site. MDPD spoke with Flower, and he said he struck a dog that jumped into the roadway. He claimed to have no memory of the crash and woke up the following morning at the home on Morningside Drive wondering how he got there. During later questioning Flower admitted to drinking “a beer and a shot” prior to the crash, the affidavit states.
Nearly three months later, a warrant was issued for Flower’s arrest, and he ran to Jackson County, North Carolina, Wilson’s daughter Emily Lowe told Inside Lake in January. He was apprehended in North Carolina in late November and extradited to Lake County Dec. 30 after he spent more than a month in jail in North Carolina, according to Lake County Clerk of Court online records. He was held in LCJ until he bonded out in April and was taken back into custody Monday after his plea.
SORRENTO, Florida—The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating a hit-and-run crash involving a bicyclist before daybreak Wednesday.
A 59-year-old man of Sorrento was riding a bicycle with proper lighting eastbound on Wolf Branch Road approaching County Road 437 on the south edge of the road, possibly around 4:45 a.m. Wednesday, when he was struck by an unknown vehicle, FHP Lt. Tara Crescenzi told Inside Lake.
The vehicle fled the scene and troopers found small debris that may belong to a white vehicle but were unable to determine the make or model of the vehicle. The bicyclist was transported to HCA Florida Lake Monroe Hospital in Sanford with serious injuries and remains in stable condition, Crescenzi said. There were no known witnesses to the crash and troopers are asking anyone with information to contact Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS.
MONTVERDE, Florida—The man who hit a high school freshman earlier this week was found by his boss using a tracking device and turned over to the Florida Highway Patrol, along with the two occupants who were in the car with him, and the driver confessed to the crime, according to a report.
Owen Wells, 14, a ninth grader at Lake Minneola High School, was killed around 6:20 a.m. Thursday on County Road 455 near Willo Pines Lane when he was struck by a Pontiac G6 being driven by Enrique Ramirez, 57, of Winter Garden. The impact threw the teen into the southbound lane of County Road 455 and Owen was then struck a second time by a Dodge Ram being driven by Jeffrey Bolin, 59, of Ferndale. Bolin stopped after the crash, stayed on scene and gave troopers a statement; Ramirez stopped briefly and then fled the scene, he told troopers.
According to the arrest report, Ramirez said he was “scared” and believed because other people stopped, he did not have to; Ramirez had two of his coworkers in his car when he hit Owen. The trio fled to their boss’ house a few miles away, left the vehicle with the damaged left headlight, picked up a work truck for the landscaping business they work for and went about their day.
Owen Wells and his two younger brothers PHOTO: GoFundMe/Support for the Wells’s Family
Lake County Sheriff’s Office deputies located the vehicle in front of the home just a few miles from the scene of the crash. Troopers responded and observed damage consistent with the crash and it matched “perfectly” to reflectors and mirror housing parts left on the scene, according to the report. They spoke with Esdras Rivera, owner of the landscaping business, who told them Ramirez and his buddies, Alberto Perez Hernandez and Francisco Javier Zacarias Cononado, were “acting weird” and seemed “very short” when they arrived earlier to pick up the work truck.
Rivera told troopers he had a tracking device on the work truck and could locate Ramirez. The Pontiac was towed by FHP for processing with an FHP sergeant following close behind, according to the report. Rivera located Ramirez, Hernandez and Cononado, picked them up and took the trio to the FHP station on Semoran Boulevard in Orlando where they were questioned, the report states. Attempts to reach Rivera for comment were unsuccessful.
All three were interviewed by troopers and Ramirez admitted he was driving the Pontiac at about 40 miles per hour northbound on County Road 455 when he saw a person’s shadow on the roadway and swerved to avoid the person. He said he struck the person, and the person was struck by a truck, according to the report.
Enrique Ramirez
Ramirez said he stopped briefly, then left the scene because he was “scared” and “others had stopped so he thought he could leave,” the report states. Ramirez’ passengers, Hernandez and Cononado both admitted they were passengers in the car at the time of the crash and fled the scene. They have not been charged and FHP has turned its findings over to the State Attorney’s Office for review, FHP Lt. Tara Crescenzi told Inside Lake.
Ramirez was arrested for leaving the scene of a crash involving death and transported to the Lake County Jail. Troopers requested no bond when he was booked into the jail, and the bond has since been lowered to $100,000. Ramirez remained in LCJ at press time.
