An Ocala woman was arrested after leaving the scene of a crash Sunday morning – two days shy of her five-year anniversary of being sent to prison for a similar charge.
Amber Marie Fernland, 30, was taken into custody and charged with leaving the scene of a crash with property damage. She was released Sunday afternoon on $1,000 bond and is due in a Marion County courtroom on May 13 at 1 p.m. to answer to the charge.
On May 7, 2014, Fernland pleaded no contest and was found guilty of leaving the scene of a crash involving death and sentenced to one year and nine months in state prison. She originally had been arrested on July 8, 2012 and was released from state prison on Oct. 30, 2015.
In Sunday’s incident, an Ocala Police officer spoke with a woman who said she had been stopped at the intersection of SE 44th Avenue and SE 8th Street when her Honda Civic was hit by a Toyota Land Rover.
The woman, who later identified Fernland as the driver of the Land Rover, said the impact sent her vehicle backwards, with the right rear coming to rest on the curb. And she added that both vehicles were damaged in the incident, a report states.
The victim said Fernland apologized and promised to pull over, but instead sped away, heading south on SE 44th Avenue. A witness confirmed the crash victim’s story to the officer.
After being given the vehicle’s license tag number, the officer and sergeant to responded to a home in the 5000 block of SE 7th Place, where the owner of the Land Rover lived. The woman confirmed that Fernland had been driving her vehicle earlier in the day. She called Fernland but received no answer, then told the officers that Fernland had called her earlier and admitted to being involved in a crash, the report says.
The woman then told officers that she had reached Fernland and she was on the way to her residence. But a short time later, Fernland exited the home, “wet from having showered,” the report states.
The crash victim’s father then drove her to the woman’s residence, where she confirmed that Fernland had been driving the Land Rover. Fernland then apologized and offered to pay for the damages to the woman’s vehicle, the report says.
After being read her rights and taken into custody, Fernland, who listed her employer as Ulta Beauty, admitted to driving the Land Rover and said she fled “because she was scared.” She said she had previously been incarcerated for a hit-and-run crash and her Florida driver’s license was for business purposes only. And she said she had been driving because she needed to purchase milk, the report says.