Florida woman turns minor fender bender into arrest, Sheriff Grady Judd says: 'Do what's right'
Photo: Polk County Sheriffs Office
WINTER HAVEN, Fla. - A Florida woman was arrested after she allegedly left the scene of a crash after claiming there was no damage to either vehicle, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office.
Ashley Welch, 39, was issued a citation for leaving the scene of a crash with property damage without providing information and was arrested and booked into the Polk County Jail.
The two-vehicle fender bender happened Saturday on Spirit Lake Road in Winter Haven. Deputies responded to the crash with minor property damage, but only one vehicle was there. The driver told deputies that an unknown woman in a white pickup truck hit her Toyota Camry.
"(She) then got out of the truck and declared that there was no damage to either vehicle," the woman told deputies. Her Camry, however, was damaged in the back, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office.
Surveillance video was obtained from residents nearby that "clearly showed the white truck and its license plate," which was registered to Welch. Deputies caught up with Welch at her home later that day and when asked where her truck was, she said it was parked somewhere else. Deputies tracked down the truck and confirmed it was the one involved in the crash.
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"All Ms. Welch had to do was stop and exchange information," Sheriff Grady Judd said. "She turned a minor fender-bender into an arrest. Crashes are inconvenient and a part of life. We ask everyone to follow the law and do what’s right."
The Polk County Sheriff's Office said in a news release that Welch worked as a nurse practioner at a local hospital. However, a spokesperson for the hospital said they have no record that she worked for them.
PCSO has removed that detail from their online news release. FOX 35 has updated our story to also reflect that change.
Welch was released from the Polk County Jail after posting a $250 bond, online record show.