Published on Sunday, December 10, 2006
in the WESH News

Hit-And-Runs Become Epidemic In Orlando

Two separate hit-and-run crashes in Orange and Volusia counties claim the lives of two people.

The crashes add to what, police said, is an epidemic in Orlando, WESH 2 News reported.

Late Friday night a 12-year-old died in a hit-and-run at the intersection of Landstar Boulevard and Town Center Boulevard in Orange County.

In a separate accident, a mother of two was killed in Volusia County on I -4 Near Saxon Boulevard.

Ricardo Marrero of Kissimmee was killed after a female driver of a red Mustang broadsided the Lexus van he and five other people were riding in.

According to police, the woman ran a red light. Anne Apel saw the Mustang driver leave the scene of the accident.

"She walked over there and stood for a moment and got into the car and disappeared," Apel said.

Trooper Kim Miller with Florida Highway Patrol said what Apel saw is all too familiar in Orange County.

"The highway patrol works six hit-and-runs in our area alone each day," she said. "This is our 12th fatal hit-and-run this year compared to seven last year at the same time and it's not even the end of the year yet."

In Volusia County along I-4, Deltona mother Giselle Rivera was killed when a BMW hit her SUV.

Her two girls, ages 11 and 14 are in the hospital.

The Florida Highway Patrol tracked down, 20-year-old Alan Matthew Carter as the car's owner.

His BMW was abandoned in the Albertson's parking lot on Saxon Boulevard. Carter told the FHP, "I think it (the car) was stolen."

Anyone who leaves the scene of an accident faces big trouble, Miller said.

"By leaving the scene they risk a third-degree felony," she said. "Just last week we had a person sentenced who was not even at fault in the accident but because they left the scene they were sentenced to four years in prison."