Insets, top to bottom: Aldon Winters being arrested on Feb. 17 and the truck he was driving when he allegedly rammed a woman and her child into a pond (MCSO). Background: The car Winters allegedly rammed into the water (MCSO).
A 69-year-old semitruck driver in Florida has been accused of an hit-and-run accident in which he allegedly switched lanes and forced a woman and her 3-year-old child to veer off a highway, crashing into a pond that ran alongside the road before continuing on his way to make a scheduled delivery.
Alton Winters, of Florida, was taken into custody on Monday and charged with one count of leaving the scene of a crash with injuries as well as a citation for improper lane change, authorities announced.
According to a news release from the Martin County Sheriff’s Office, deputies at about 9 a.m. on the morning of Feb. 17 responded to reports of a crash along Kanner Highway. Upon arriving at the scene, first responders located the victims, whose car was still submerged in the pond water.
Following a preliminary investigation, authorities said that the woman was driving when she “was struck by a semi-truck that was switching lanes.” The collision reportedly resulted in the truck “forcing her off of the road and into a pond.”
“Witnesses reported that the impact caused the car to veer off the road and into the water,” the sheriff’s office wrote in the release. “Fortunately, the woman was able to free herself and her child from the vehicle and make it to the bank.”
Investigators were able to identify Winters as the driver of the truck. After colliding with the woman and her child, authorities said Winters “slowed down briefly but then drove off to a local produce company” where he was scheduled to make a delivery.
Authorities were able to locate Winters a short while later and officers with the Stuart Police Department took him into custody. Winters allegedly told authorities that after he struck the other vehicle he continued driving because “he had to make a delivery.”
The woman and her child were both transported to a local hospital for treatment. Authorities said they suffered only minor injuries.
