WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – A local woman is accused of hitting a teenage marijuana dealer during a drug deal gone wrong then fleeing the scene of the crash while the boy was lying injured in the road, according to the Winter Haven Police Department.
Stephanie Stinson, 33, told her 15-year-old daughter early Sunday morning that she wanted to buy some marijuana so her daughter texted a boy she knew to arrange a drug deal, a news release said.
Recommended Videos
Stinson and her daughter went to a laundromat at 834 6th St. NW in Winter Haven to meet a 15-year-old boy who was selling marijuana, according to the report.
Police said Stinson gave the teen $20 for a bag of marijuana and expected to receive money back. When she didn't, she moved her blue Dodge Avenger in an attempt to prevent the silver Chevrolet the boy was in from leaving, according to authorities.
The boy was trying to get in the passenger's side of the vehicle when Stinson rammed her Avenger into it and struck the boy, police said. The impact launched the boy over the hood and then into the road, the report said.
He was airlifted to Arnold Palmer Hospital with facial fractures and other broken bones.
Stinson, of Winter Haven, saw the boy injured in the road but did not stop to help him, according to the news release. Her daughter called 911 as they were leaving the scene, police said.
Part of the Avenger was lodged in the silver Chevrolet and police said they used the VIN number from that part to determine the ownership of the vehicle.
Police at first were unable to locate the suspect vehicle until Stinson's estranged husband called police at 7:06 a.m. Sunday to say that he found his vehicle with damage and Stinson had texted him saying that she hit a person while driving it, the report said.
Stinson and her daughter went to the Winter Haven Police Department around 8 a.m. to give their statements about the incident.
Stinson was charged with leaving the scene of a crash involving injury and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.