Key West Woman Charged After Ramming Cyclist, Yelling Tourist, and Fleeing Scene

Lisa Marie Sacco, 57, of Saddlebunch Keys, was arrested and charged with two felonies after a witness told police she yelled "tourist" at a local couple on bicycles, then deliberately struck a woman off her bike with a Toyota Sienna near Olivia and Duval streets Monday night and drove away.

According to the police report, a 27-year-old man told officers that he and his 38-year-old wife were riding their bikes east on Olivia Street just after 9 p.m. when they noticed a woman, later identified as Sacco, following them and honking from her Toyota Sienna. The victim told officers that Sacco was "yelling for her to move over" and that she agreed to move over further up the road where there was more room. Her husband told officers he heard Sacco yell "tourist" before speeding up and hitting the rear of his wife's bicycle near Petronia Lane, causing her to fall.

Medics transported the victim to Lower Keys Medical Center with elbow and knee pain. Police said the couple were local residents, not tourists.

Sacco did not stop. A witness who called police after the wreck told a dispatcher that he saw Sacco drive away and park her van at Winslow's Bungalows at 725 Truman Ave. A responding officer found the Sienna in that parking lot, missing its right mirror. The witness told police that Sacco "was seen following and honking at the bicyclists for two stop signs" and that "it appeared the driver of the white minivan hit the bicyclist on purpose."

Sacco later showed up at the Key West Police Department on her own. Authorities said she arrived at the lobby around 10:15 p.m. seeking to speak with an officer about the crash, saying that "a bicyclist ran out in front of her vehicle," but declined to answer further questions and asked for an attorney.

KWPD Officer Danielle Fasulo wrote in the report that after she informed Sacco the victim had been transported to the hospital, Sacco asked if the woman was going to be OK. A man with Sacco in the lobby told Fasulo that Sacco had called him "very upset and panicking" about the crash and "just wanted him to wait with her for police to arrive." Officer Fasulo concluded that Sacco "was experiencing an episode of road rage which caused her to actually and intentionally increase the speed of her vehicle and strike (the victim) against her will."

Police arrested Sacco on charges of leaving the scene of a crash involving injuries and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. She was being held in the Monroe County Sheriff's Office Key West jail facility as of Tuesday morning with no listed bond and is scheduled to be arraigned on April 9.