A woman and her three-year-old child narrowly escaped serious injury after being involved in a hit-and-run crash, according to the Martin County Sheriff's Office.
It happened along Kanner Highway on Monday morning. Deputies said a semi-truck hit the woman's car while switching lanes, forcing her off the road and into a pond.
The mother freed herself and her child from the car, and escaped to the bank, the office reports.
The driver of the truck, 69-year-old Alton Winters of Florida, slowed down briefly but then drove off to a local produce company, claiming he had to make a delivery, according to deputies. Stuart Police later found and arrested him.
Winters is charged with leaving the scene of a crash with injuries and improper lane change. The woman and her child were hospitalized with minor injuries.
![Alton Winters](https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/4ed409a/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1413x1850+0+0/resize/1100x1440!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fewscripps-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F08%2F7a%2Fffb12a5249799c2c77871c28abcc%2Fscreenshot-2025-02-18-110542.png)