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Inset: Dugblis Jimenez (Brevard County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The Wawa where an argument between Jimenez and her husband allegedly started in Cocoa, Fla. (Google Maps).
A woman from Florida has been arrested after she allegedly hit her husband with her car, leaving him critically injured on a busy road, according to law enforcement in the state.
Dugblis Rojas Jimenez, aged 43, faces charges including attempted second-degree murder, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, reckless driving resulting in serious injuries, and fleeing the scene of an accident causing property damage, as stated in the Brevard County court documents.
Police were alerted on Tuesday to a man clinging to the hood of a white sedan being driven erratically through the streets of Cocoa, a small town approximately 45 miles from Orlando.
The vehicle ultimately collided at or near the cross of West King and Pineapple Streets, as noted in a police report accessed by Law&Crime. The man was ejected from the car’s hood and discovered “on the ground” with “head injuries and bleeding.”
He had been thrown 71 feet by the impact, police said.
The confrontation reportedly initiated at a Wawa convenience store and gas station close to where the crash occurred, according to the police report. Witnesses claimed they observed the man climb onto the car’s hood and sit there after a “verbal dispute” with Jimenez.
“Witnesses stated the driver of the suspect vehicle was attempting to back out and leave the Wawa as the victim sat on the hood of the vehicle,” the arrest report reads. “Witnesses stated the sedan successfully left the Wawa with the victim on the hood of the vehicle.”
Surveillance footage would confirm those witness statements, according to police.
The footage appears to show, in succession, the man getting on the hood, the car driving a short distance from the air pumps to the gas pumps in the Wawa parking lot, the man getting off the hood briefly to walk near the front of the car, then the man getting back on the hood. Finally, the car leaves the parking lot – with the man on the hood.
“Witnesses on scene stated the vehicle drove at a rapid pace eastbound away from the Wawa with the victim on the hood of the vehicle,” the arrest report says. “Witnesses stated that the suspect vehicle made multiple sharp left and right maneuverers in an attempt to get the victim off of the hood of the vehicle.”
When those maneuverers failed to dislodge the man, Jimenez allegedly made a U-turn – right into the side of another car. This collision causes the man to fall from the hood, witnesses told law enforcement. But the adamant alleged victim gets back up, once more, and gets back on the hood, witnesses said.
Additional surveillance footage – culled from a nearby auto mechanic business and a pawn shop – offer some insight into the harrowing final moments of the encounter and crash, police say.
In these second and third pieces of footage, police describe the woman traveling westbound for a bit and changing lanes back and forth. During one “sharp” lane change, the man slides “across the hood” of the car “towards the passenger side and ultimately completely off,” according to the report.
“The suspect vehicle and victim then disappear from the surveillance footage behind trees,” the arrest report goes on. “As both the suspect vehicle and the victim continue to travel westbound, they come back into view with the victim sliding and rolling on the pavement and the suspect vehicle sliding uncontrol[led] with the driver’s side now facing west. Once this occurs, the victim is seen being run over by the front right wheel of the suspect vehicle. Both the suspect vehicle and the victim then travel out of view.”
The pawn shop’s footage cuts in to show the car “still sliding uncontrolled” and the man “still sliding and rolling away” from the car until they both stop in their final resting positions, police claim.
The woman, for her part, did not stop driving until she crashed into a curb and “traffic control device,” according to law enforcement.
While recounting the road-borne chaos in step-by-step detail, the police narrative offers less in terms of the woman’s alleged motive.
“While at Rockledge Regional Medical Center, the suspect was read her constitutional rights,” police wrote. “The suspect indicated that she wished to have a lawyer present to speak with detectives due to a language barrier. It should be noted that during this incident, the suspect made multiple claims that she was scared of the victim.”
The victim, meanwhile, was airlifted to Holmes Regional Medical Center – where he was listed in critical condition after being intubated and diagnosed with a brain bleed and skull fracture.
Police noted the victim and defendant are husband and wife.
Jimenez is being detained in the Brevard County Jail on $180,000 bond.
The defendant is likely to be placed on a detainer by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, her attorney said during a hearing on Wednesday, according to Orlando-based Fox affiliate WOFL.
She is next slated to appear in court on Sept. 16.