A Mini Cooper driver fled a Publix in The Villages after hitting a pedestrian in the parking lot.
A woman was walking in the parking lot of Publix at Southern Trace Plaza on Monday afternoon, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. The woman said she was walking behind the Mini Cooper when the driver put the vehicle in reverse and struck her. She suffered injuries to her right shoulder, which radiated down her right arm, right hip and right knee, the report said.
When the driver didn’t get out, the injured woman knocked on the window of the Mini Cooper.
“You realize you just hit me with your car, right?” she asked him.
“What?” the Mini Cooper driver asked. “So?”
The woman asked to see his insurance information, but he responded with profanity. He eventually fled the parking lot.
A deputy viewed surveillance from Publix, which clearly showed the incident as the woman had described it. The deputy was able to see the Mini Cooper’s license plate number, captured by the store’s surveillance cameras.
The license plate led to the home of 72-year-old Andrew Zic in Oxford. The deputy spoke with another man living in the home. The man said Zic “was upset” about the incident at Publix, “but did not do anything about it.” The man said Zic feared the woman would call law enforcement. While the man was speaking to the deputy, Zic pulled into the driveway in the Mini Cooper.
Zic was arrested on a felony charge of hit and run. He was booked at the Sumter County Detention Center and released after posting $5,000 bond.