A 30-year-old woman accused of stealing a car was arrested after she allegedly struck a bicyclist in downtown Orlando and continued driving.
According to the Orlando Police Department, at around 8:45 p.m. on Saturday, September 21, officers responded to a 911 call regarding a car that had been stolen near the intersection of Central Boulevard and Tampa Avenue.
The victim told police that he had left his girlfriend’s Kia car “parked and running” in front of a nearby apartment complex. When he went to check on the vehicle, he advised that he saw someone “driving away with (it).”
Within minutes, OPD received several calls regarding a similar car hitting a bicyclist at the intersection of S Orange Avenue and Central Boulevard in downtown Orlando. An investigation revealed that the stolen vehicle was involved, according to police.
Using the victim’s cellphone, which was inside the stolen car, officers were able to track the vehicle to the intersection of S Mills Avenue and Briarcliff Drive.
OPD stated that the vehicle had been abandoned, though the suspect in this case, later identified as Gerica Denise Redding, was arrested after she allegedly “ditched the car and hitched a ride to a nearby gas station.”
Redding was transported to Orange County Jail, where she is currently being held on bond. She is being charged with grand theft of a motor vehicle, leaving the scene of a crash with serious injuries, and burglary of a conveyance.
A court date has not been scheduled yet, according to jail records.