A 58-year-old woman driving with a learner’s permit hit and killed her 91-year-old husband with their car while trying to park outside their apartment building near Orlando, Florida. Continue reading after the jump.
Federico Santiago was standing between a concrete parking stop and a grass median when the 2002 Ford Taurus lurched forward Thursday, troopers said. It appeared that the car ran over Santiago, but investigators won’t know for sure until an autopsy is conducted because someone moved the car before they arrived.
Santiago’s wife, Alba Jimenez, was “hysterical” after the crash, neighbors said.
“We’re all so sorry,” neighbor Betty Mejias said. “We loved them very much.”
Investigators said the couple were returning home when the crash happened about 11:05 a.m. at College Park Towers, a rental complex for people 62 and older that’s east of Edgewater Drive and north of Lee Road.
If that proves to be true, Jimenez would have been driving illegally because learners are required to have a licensed driver in the seat next to them, said Sgt. Kim Montes, a highway patrol spokeswoman. Santiago did not have a license, she said.
The beige Taurus, which Santiago had recently bought from a neighbor, showed no obvious signs of damage. There appeared to be a dent or two at the bottom of the front bumper.
Investigators spent the afternoon taking measurements and inspecting the crash scene. Initial investigation indicates the crash was an accident, Montes said. No charges have been filed.
Santiago, a native of Puerto Rico, met his wife in her native Colombia when he was on vacation, Mejias said. They had been married for less than a decade, she said.
