Inset: Vincent Fortin (Monroe County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The area where Vincent Fortin’s friend was found after being allegedly hurled from a stolen golf cart and breaking his hip (Google Maps).
A Florida man is facing criminal charges after stealing a golf cart and then ditching a friend who broke his hip after being hurled off the back during an “abrupt u-turn,” according to police. Cops say the man “went joyriding around the City of Key West” instead of stopping to help the pal.
Vincent Fortin, 51, of Winter Haven, was out “joyriding” with the friend when the incident occurred, according to his arrest report. “During that Joyride, he caused serious bodily injury to the victim … which will require emergency surgery to repair,” the report says.
Fortin and another pal had swiped the golf cart earlier in the day using a “master key” that cops say can start multiple golf carts, per the report.
The injured friend said he was picked up by Fortin and riding in the rear of the golf cart when Fortin made the u-turn and threw him “from the rear seat onto the pavement,” according to police. A witness who spoke to cops corroborated this and said he saw Fortin “slam on his brakes” before turning around and “throwing” the friend from the golf cart, the arrest report says.
“Fortin did not stop and render aid, but instead, left the scene and kept cruising around Duval Street, like nothing happened,” the report states.
The pal was transported to Lower Keys Medical Center where he received a CT scan of his head, neck and hip. The hip scan showed “an obvious break in his bone on his left hip” and emergency surgery was performed, according to cops.
Fortin, who does not have a driver’s license, was taken into custody after an officer who was conducting a routine patrol in the area saw him “run a red light in front of him” while driving the golf cart, his arrest report says. The officer “realized that the driver of this golf cart was the same subject that was allegedly driving the golf cart earlier” and Fortin was promptly arrested.
Fortin is facing charges of grand theft, leaving the scene of a crash causing serious bodily injury, and operating a vehicle without a valid license. He’s being held on a $41,000 bond and is scheduled to be arraigned on Jan. 29.
