ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A 47-year-old woman was killed and an 85-year-old woman suffered serious injuries in a hit-and-run crash near Orlando early Sunday, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
The crash occurred around 12:38 a.m. in the westbound lanes of Sand Lake Road at its intersection with Winegard Road, troopers said.
According to an FHP crash report, the 47-year-old Orlando woman was driving a 2000 Honda Odyssey which was stopped in the inside lane for a red light. The Honda also carried a passenger, an 85-year-old woman from Pembroke Pines, troopers said.
The front of a 2020 BMW X3 — traveling westbound in the inside lane of Sand Lake Road — then struck the rear of the Honda, the report states.
The Orlando woman was taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead, troopers said. Her passenger, the Pembroke Pines woman, was hospitalized for treatment of serious injuries, according to the report. Both of them were wearing seat belts during the crash, the report states.
Though the occupants of the BMW ran away, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office soon apprehended one of them, a 25-year-old Kissimmee man who was then hospitalized for treatment of serious injuries, according to the report. FHP was still working to determine the BMW’s driver at the time of this writing.
Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact FHP at 407-737-2213 or Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS (8477).
In a statement, an FHP public affairs officer sought to remind Floridians about the consequences of leaving the scene of a crash, providing the following steps should you ever be involved in one:
- Make sure you and any passengers are okay. Remain calm.
- If possible, move to the side of the road. Remove your keys if you get out of your vehicle, move off the roadway, and stay in a safe area.
- Check on others involved. Call 911 if anyone might be injured or a vehicle is inoperable.
- If there are no injuries or major property damage, gather information. Get the name, driver license, insurance, and tag information from the other driver(s). Take photos of the vehicles and information if you can’t write it down and then file a report online. Learn more about hit-and-run penalties here.