A woman has been charged with reporting a false hit-and-run crash in The Villages.
Tonya Marie Jones, 53, of Wildwood, was arrested earlier this month on a warrant charging her with giving false information to law enforcement.
Jones was at the Walmart at Buffalo Ridge Plaza on Sept. 10 when she dialed 911 to report that her car had been damaged in a hit-and-run crash in the parking lot, according to an affidavit from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. She told a deputy she had been in the store for about 20 minutes, came out and was surprised to see the damage to her car.
However, the deputy noted that there was “a large crushed area on the left side of the hood, measuring 4.5 feet by 3.5 feet.” The damage was “significant and clearly visible.” In the center of the crushed hood, there was a large rectangular gouge mark approximately 4 inches wide by 11 inches long…