Background: The site of the crash at the intersection of Dixie Highway and Valley Station Road in Louisville, Ky. (WDRB/YouTube). Inset left: Julie Willis (Louisville Metro Government). Inset right: Kingston Maestas (GoFundMe).
A woman who smashed her Jeep into a teenager riding a motorized bike home from work said she left him without helping "because she was scared" and then lied that her vehicle had been stolen, according to authorities in Kentucky.
Julie Willis, 52, is in the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections on charges including leaving the scene or failing to render aid in an accident involving death or serious physical injury, tampering with physical evidence, falsely reporting an incident to law enforcement, speeding 20 mph over the limit, fraudulent insurance acts, and operating without a license, per jail records reviewed by Law&Crime.
The victim was identified in a GoFundMe as 18-year-old Kingston Maestas.
On Friday night into early Saturday morning, Maestas was biking home from his job at 7 Brew, a drive-thru coffee place in Louisville, Kentucky. He "works his butt off" at the establishment, the fundraiser states, and he "put all his hard earned money" into the vehicle, which regional NBC affiliate WAVE said was a pocket bike.
At about midnight, Willis was driving a 2017 Jeep Renegade registered to her boyfriend, the Louisville Metro Police Department said, per local Fox affiliate WDRB. At the intersection of Dixie Highway and Valley Station Road in Louisville, Kentucky, she allegedly smashed into the teenager and then drove off without helping him.
The fundraiser states that the driver "left the scene with him laying in the road," apparently also leaving "his bike on the side of the road which was stolen" along with his phone. "They left his shoes at the scene which was the only reason we (parents) were able to identify him from the crash site."
Once Maestas was found, he was reportedly rushed to an area hospital with a collapsed lung, torn spleen, and damaged arteries. He was placed in the ICU before being released from the hospital.
Investigators searched for a suspect, and five days later, they arrested Willis. A witness had apparently told them that she came home soon after the crash and said she had been in a crash with a "motorcycle" and left "because she was scared."
Willis allegedly moved the Jeep from her residence and then called police to claim it had been stolen. Investigators believe she wanted to make it seem as if someone else was driving the Jeep when the crash occurred. The vehicle was found three days later.
The defendant was arrested, and she was scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday morning.