Wow! Justice for a Change
 

A 91 year old woman Villager was recently sentenced to 5 years in prison for a hit and run accident that seriously injured two bicyclists in 2020 near Morse Blvd in The Villages. After hitting the bicyclists, she got out of her car, saw the people she hit, and then drove home. She was later arrested when she tried to get her car repaired in Gainesville. The judge denied her request to delay serving her term and she was immediately taken into custody. Although it took more than 2 years to get justice, I wish more crimes were handled that way.

What I found telling was that in all the news reports I have read about her conduct she was always reported as driving a Mercedes. It felt to me like an attempt to foster class hatred upon her although I personally found her conduct beyond reprehensible no matter what she was driving. She deserves to do the time as she definitely committed the crime. The OP wrote she was driving a car for which I am most appreciative.

I agree about that class hatred observation. The story was covered extensively in V i l l a g e s - N e w s, and that publication spares no effort to stir up as much controversy and negativity as it possibly can. I believe every story I saw about this case in V-N mentioned the Mercedes. Sign of the times, I guess.

Justice was done. Though no prison sentence can change what happened to that couple on the bicycles, or the impact that this accident will most probably have on the rest of their lives.

I agree the sentence is fair , although I don’t know how much time they will keep her locked up at that age , but the Mercedes’ part always made me uncomfortable

Locked up at 91?

I wonder where they will house her?

I don't know any of the facts. Was she drinking, on drugs? Multiple offenses? Sound state of mind? Just seems like a possible huge burden on the state.

Granny doesn't need to pay for housing, car expense, property tax , income tax, insurance, food, medical expenses, utilities anymore and still get her pension, social security and IRA income. Do you think you could keep her a bit longer so our inheritance can build up a little more?

Meh. I would have been really impressed if all the elderly after age 85 have to surrender their drivers license.

The fact that she was driving a Mercedes isn't even all that impressive. You can buy your own used Mercedes for under $30,000. There's one on the certified pre-owned mercedes website, a 2017 model for $22,900.

It'd be impressive (from a "oh look, elitist-talk" perspective) if they said that the woman's chauffeur hit two bicyclists.

Not a lot of elitists in the Villages. They would probably go to other places in Florida.

I meant the "anti-elitists." People who get a kick out of criticizing wealthy people JUST because they're wealthy.

A travesty of justice.

Maybe if these bicyclists and their clubs(more like gangs) learned to ride responsibly these type accidents would never occur.

while i respect your reply, we ALL need to be much more careful about travel here. cyclists, golf carts, etc. flowing all @ once requires the utmost attention given to how we operate a vehicle of any kind. people have to anticipate that sort of thing & act accordingly. this woman was not just @ fault for the accident, she drove away after observing the crumpled bodies in the road! that & the fact she sent the car out of town asap scream guilt & understanding of her actions. THIS is where the true issue lies.

Village of Coleman, :loco:!

She will probably go to a minimum security State of Florida prison. I do not seeing her bring a big escape risk. Unless she is like the Villages' super senior athlete Tiny.

I hate to bring this up, but how will she manage to maintain her property while she’s gone? I didn’t get the impression that she lives with anyone who could do that. Next thing you know, we’ll see her property on the list of properties not being maintained.

From what I read she has family in California and her attorney if I remember correctly asked her prison time be spent in California near her family while she resides in an assisted living community not prison. The request was denied. I would say if it were my mother I would step in and either take care of the property or sell it. I also wonder how she'll survive 5 years in prison.

Made me uncomfortable too, I drive an older Mercedes and I don’t feel like I’m any better than everyone else. Plus mine is almost 18 years old.

5 years for a 91-year-old with no criminal history is extreme. It's not like she intended to hurt the bikers. Yes, she screwed up leaving the scene but c’mon 5 years.

Hopefully, she appeals the sentence and the VN is why most people hate the media. For all we know it was some old 1998 Mercedes with 200,000 miles on it.

The poster above was obviously misguided in his statement. Oh, that was me.
I took the time go back and read about the incident and the subsequent facts.

Seems like they already reduced the time and that "the inheritance " is also subject to loss due to the incident.

An obvious, crime of hit and run, should be punished regardless of age.

You really think that would stop them from driving?:oops:

Coleman has minimum and maximum security

My first thought is that once a person reaches 90, he or she shouldn’t be driving a car. There may be some exceptions, but this woman isn’t one of them. She was trying to get away from a truck and slammed into two bicyclists. Was that poor vision, bad judgement or reflexes, who knows. She says she had hip pain. The real issue is that she saw what happened, got out of her car, then got back in and sped off. No excuse for that.

With all the money she isn’t spending while in jail. Or she can sell her Mercedes’ and hire someone. She certainly won’t be needing that anymore.

Just who was a fault and to what extent will certainly be looked into regarding the certain civil proceedings, accident reconstruction takes all manner of things into consideration, but accidents are accidents, but can ,depending on actions and circumstances become criminal, leaving the scene of an accident is most certainly criminal.

Justice well deserved.

What a totally ridiculous and biased assumption.

Seems you are leaving out all the cars that like to travel at 50+ mph on all of the posted 35 mph roads in the Villages. Guess they never contribute to accidents!!

Well I’m not here to argue if the court was right or wrong about giving her 5 yrs. in prison, but seriously a 91 yr. old woman that already has both feet in her grave already. I know they had to do something to her for hitting someone on a bike. But why not take her license away from her for 20 yrs, well I’m sure she’ll be pushing up daisies by then or tell her family to put her in a nursing home, I’m sure that would be prison enough. I agree she had no business getting behind the wheel of a car at 91yrs. old!

Put her on a Chain Gang picking up Dog Poop …..

Amen. The bicyclists were severely injured. Anyone can have an accident but you have to stop & call police. An ambulance was needed in this case as well.

I don’t believe in age discrimination. The bicyclists were wearing helmets & reflectors

I wonder if she will be required to withdraw her annual RMD during incarceration. Since she will be receiving state funded room and board, she could be living pretty 'high on the hog' for the next 5 years counting the RMD, Social Security and any pension she might be entitled to.

Not fair, but there should be testing. We have a neighbor in his 90's who is sharp as a tack and in good health. We should not create buckets that don't differentiate. There are people in their 70's who should not be driving.

You can search online by person’s name for the facility in the State of Florida inmate records. It’s public.

Coleman is a Federal prison. She will be serving her time in a State facility.

I could name four people in their 40's and 50's I would never get in a car with, yet am most comfortable being driven by a neighbor who is 86.
Horse for courses.
Wonder what those advocating taking away driving licenses for over 80+ drivers will say when they get that old?

Testing for people over 85 would not be a bad thing, but how frequently?

As for the 5 years, if FL is anything like MN, sentenced to 5 years and will do 3.5 in the big house and the remainder on supervised release...

Sir, I am 86, I will bet you that I am in better physical condition than you are. I will surpass your daily exercise routine with out a doubt.
Can you do or have you ever done a tri-athlon?

The injured parties should sue her in civil court. With this conviction, I am certain they would receive a judgement. They deserve some compensation for the harm she had done to them and they cannot hurt her in any other way. Do not feel any sympathy for her for leaving two people on the road after hitting them, no matter what kind of car she was driving.

Just think how light the auto traffic would be in TV, if you got your wish. Might want to put that suggestion in the DMV box:a040:

Civil case already underway.