A wrong-way driver in Florida blamed oncoming traffic for being in her way after she crashed into and nearly killed an elderly motorist.
According to the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, the 20-year-old woman “intentionally drove westbound in the eastbound lanes on Highway 98 near Hurlburt Field” at around 1 p.m. on Saturday, February 18.
Witnesses spotted the woman driving at a high rate of speed against traffic near the Eglin Air Force Base, located 35 miles east of Pensacola, just before the crash.
“Multiple witnesses told the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office 20-year-old Anessia Jines was traveling at a high rate of speed in her Nissan Sentra and deliberately swerving to try to collide with oncoming traffic,” the sheriff’s office said in a press release. “[Jines] ultimately hit a 71-year-old woman driving a Toyota, who suffered significant but non-life-threatening injuries.”
An off-duty Okaloosa County sheriff’s deputy who arrived to the scene of the crash noted that Jines, who was uninjured, attempted to flee the scene on foot when her vehicle would not start up again.
After attempting to detain her, Jines resisted.
“Why are you touching me?” she asked.
“Because you could have killed someone,” the deputy replied.
“He says Jines said she didn’t care. ‘It was their bad,’” the sheriff’s office said.
Jines, a Baker resident, initially refused to get into a patrol car.
She was ultimately arrested and “charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and resisting an officer.” Records show that she was being held without bond on February 20 in the Okaloosa County jail.
“We want to express our gratitude to all the callers who alerted the OCSO to the dangerous situation and those who stopped to assist in the investigation,” the sheriff’s office stated.
The sheriff’s office uploaded photos of the aftermath of the crash to its Facebook page.