MIAMI SPRINGS, FLA. (WSVN) - Police have arrested a woman accused of fleeing the scene after crashing into a motorcyclist in Miami Springs.
Miami Springs Police said 55-year-old Maria Elena Menendez struck 29-year-old Eric Colon Ortiz as she was making a left turn at the intersection of Northwest 36th Street and Sheridan Drive, Wednesday night.
Menendez was charged with leaving the scene of a crash causing serious bodily injury.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue transported Ortiz to Ryder Trauma Center with injuries to his leg, ankle and shoulder.
According to police, Menendez stopped by the Miami Springs Police Department the following day to request a crash report for an insurance claim.
“The defendant responds to the police station because she was trying to get money for the insurance to fix her car,” a state prosecutor said. “The insurance said she needed a crash report.”
Menendez told detectives that she might have struck a trash can, which caused damage to her vehicle.
Police conducted an investigation that included taking a look at red light cameras at the intersection.
After reviewing the footage, detectives concluded that Menendez was behind the wheel of the vehicle that struck Ortiz.
They contend that she drove in a well-lit area with no trash can found in or around the intersection.
She was subsequently arrested on Monday.
Menendez was seen sporting her orange jumpsuit when she went before a judge in bond court.
“She hits this victim, left them on the side of the road and then fled the scene,” a state prosecutor said.
However, Menendez’s attorney presented their side of the case.
“She did not see that particular person, and the fleeing is actually a mischaracterization of what happened,” attorney Cam Cornish said.
Menendez remains on house arrest after bonding out of jail on Tuesday.
Ortiz remains in the hospital recovering from his injuries.
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