POLK COUNTY, Fla. — A man was arrested after allegedly fleeing from an early morning crash in Polk County early Sunday morning.
Florida Highway Patrol said Ramon Santiago-Garcia, 18, was found and arrested at a home in Haines City. FHP said the crash Santiago-Garcia was involved in left a woman in serious condition.
At 12:17 a.m., an FHP trooper was conducting stationary radar speed enforcement on Ronald Reagan Parkway near Champions Gate Boulevard when a red 2015 Ford Mustang passed him at nearly 80 mph in a 45 mph zone.
As the trooper turned on his emergency lights to enter traffic, the driver of the Mustang, 18-year-old Ramon Santiago-Garcia, turned off the car's lights and accelerated over a rise and around a curve out of the trooper's sight.
The trooper was unable to see the car again, so he turned off his emergency lights and stopped his attempt to overtake.
As the trooper approached the intersection of Ronald Reagan Parkway and Pine Tree Trail, he saw that the Mustang crashed into a 2008 Nissan Pathfinder and discovered that Santiago-Garcia and a passenger of the Mustang had fled on foot.
Polk County deputies assisted with locating the passenger but were unable to find Santiago-Garcia at the scene. A second passenger was discovered in the back seat.
After Santiago-Garcia was located Sunday afternoon, he was charged with reckless driving causing serious bodily injury, fleeing disregarding safety, causing injury or death and leaving the scene of a crash in serious bodily injury. He was taken to Polk County Jail.
The two people in the Pathfinder and both passengers of the Mustang were transported to local hospitals. The driver of the Pathfinder, a 22-year-old woman, remains hospitalized in serious condition.
