A California banker apparently in town for business may get a lot more than she bargained for after a fatal hit-and-run accident in the tourist district of Orlando. Several Orlando media outlets had reported that Orlando Police were looking for a black Nissan that had run a red light on State Road 535 and hit and killed, Liu Ye, a student who was working at Walt Disney World in their International College Program. The driver of the black Nissan did not stop to help Ms. Ye, who died at Dr. Phillips Hospital.
The following day Jennifer Toth called the police and requested an accident. She stated that she thought she might have hit an animal the night before.
Unfortunately, Ms. Toth’s story doesn’t quite add up. For reasons that are currently unclear, although Ms. Toth as staying at the Waldorf Astoria resort, Ms. Toth decided to leave her mangled black Nissan rental car parked behind a business on Vineland Road following the accident. Ms. Toth then called a taxi and took the cab back to her hotel. Certainly, this suggests that Ms. Toth knew she had done something wrong and was hoping that she would not be found out. Ms. Toth has been charged with leaving the scene of a crash following a death – a major felony.
As an Orlando accident attorney, it has always occurred to me how cowardly it is for a driver to leave the scene after having hit a human being (or even an animal.) As scared as the driver may be about being in trouble, I just cannot see how they can justify leaving a human being (or an animal) suffering in the road. In this instance, it is very possible that Ms. Toth will face punitive damages for the decisions she made. In addition, if she was on a business-related errand at the time of the crash, her employer might even be held liable.
It is my hope that the victim’s family somehow sees fit to hire an experienced Florida personal injury attorney to advise them. They need to counsel with someone who is familiar with insurance issues and other ways of holding the responsible person liable and recovering damages for the victim’s family.
If you have any questions regarding an Orlando vacation-related accident, or a wrongful death car crash, call Winter Park personal injury attorneys Kim Cullen and Robert Hemphill at 407-644-4444.
