Woman hits, kills pedestrian while driving under influence, police say

Boyfriend calls 911 to report crash, officers say

Jessica Marie Struthers, 25.

ORMOND BEACH, Fla. – Ormond Beach police said they have arrested a woman accused of leaving the scene of a crash after fatally striking a pedestrian Friday night.

Jessica Struthers, 25, of Daytona Beach, was arrested Saturday morning after her boyfriend called to report that she had been involved in a crash on her way home Friday night, police said.

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Earlier in the night, a witness called to report a crash in front of the 700 block of South Atlantic Avenue after he heard it and saw the victim rolling across the road as a white SUV continued driving, according to an arrest report.

On Tuesday, Ormond Beach police released the 911 calls made following the crash.

Officers arrived and the pedestrian, Charles Bofinger, 63, of Pennsylvania, was transported to Florida Hospital Oceanside, where he was later pronounced dead.

The emblem on the driver's vehicle fell off in the crash and police found it nearby, according to the report. Officers determined that the vehicle involved in the crash was a Mazda.

Officers shut down the southbound lanes of South Atlantic Avenue following the crash, police said.

Police found Struthers at a home on the 800 block of Riverside Drive, which is close to where the crash took place, shortly after her boyfriend called authorities to report the crash, police said.

Struthers' boyfriend told police that Struthers had been involved in a crash and was scared, so she left the scene, according to the report. Struthers told police that she did not know what she had hit and thought someone threw something at her car, police said.

Police said they found a vehicle at the home that matched the description of the vehicle provided by the witness with significant damage.

Struthers told police that she had worked all day before she went to a bar and had one drink and two shots over the course of two hours, according to the arrest report. Police said they found a liquid substance inside a cup in the center console of the vehicle and that Struthers told officers it was the first mixed drink she had and that she hadn't finished it.

Struthers was released from jail Sunday.

Police also found a peach-colored pill inside a prescription bottle in the SUV, but the pill did not match the prescription label on the bottle, officers said. Struthers told police that she had not taken any form of narcotics or prescription pills that day, according to the report.

Officers conducted multiple field sobriety exercises and determined that Struthers was under the influence, police said.

Struthers was arrested and charged with DUI causing human death, leaving the scene of a fatal crash and possession of a schedule IV substance, according to the report. 

A judge granted Struthers a $57,500 bail during her first appearance Sunday morning. Struthers' bond amount was set at $2,500 for the possession of schedule IV substance charge, $5,000 for leaving the scene of a deadly accident and $50,000 for the DUI resulting in death charge, according to jail records. 


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