Photo courtesy: Polk County Sheriff's Office
POLK COUNTY, Fla. - A nurse practitioner from Winter Haven was arrested after authorities said she left the scene of a minor crash with property damage.
According to the Polk County Sheriff's Office, Ashley Welch, 39, was charged with leaving the scene of a crash with property damage without providing information in connection to the Saturday incident.
On Saturday, Dec. 30, a PCSO deputy responded to a two-vehicle crash with minor property damage on Spirit Lake Road at the entrance to The Villages at Spirit Lake subdivision. The deputy arrived to find only one involved vehicle had remained at the scene.
The driver told the deputy an unknown woman in a white pickup truck had struck her vehicle, a Toyota Camry, and then got out of the truck and declared there was no damage to either vehicle.
As the person who was hit called law enforcement, the at-fault driver, later identified as Welch, immediately got back in her truck and left the scene. The person who was hit had damage to the rear of her car.
According to PCSO, the deputy spoke with nearby residents, one of whom had the crash on video surveillance. It traced the car back to Welch, who deputies questioned at her home.
After finding the white pickup truck at Welch's home, she was issued a citation, arrested, and booked into the Polk County Jail. She was released that evening after posting $250 bond.
"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."