Lindsay Isaacs says getting her Dodge Durango back Thursday marks another step toward closure after she was wrongly accused of causing a fatal crash in Volusia County.
Isaacs was arrested in April and accused of driving the SUV involved in an October crash on Interstate 4 near DeBary that killed three people. She spent 13 days in jail and two weeks out on bond before the charges were dropped.
Florida Highway Patrol later arrested another woman who investigators said was actually driving the vehicle that caused the crash. Isaacs’ attorney said location data and the timing of the incident showed Isaacs could not have been at the scene.
Isaacs said she had been driving her SUV as part of a normal day before returning home, eating dinner and going to sleep.
“It was a normal drive,” Isaacs said. “Little did I know” what would happen next.
The state kept the SUV for months. Isaacs’ attorneys later obtained it while conducting their own investigation and preserving evidence for a lawsuit Isaacs filed against the Florida Highway Patrol.
“It feels so good,” Isaacs said Thursday as she was reunited with the vehicle at a tow yard. “I can’t believe it.”
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier addressed the case in June after News 6 questioned him about the investigation.
“Mistakes shouldn’t happen. They do sometimes,” Uthmeier said. “This was not a good case. We’ve had private meetings. We’ll have something we can announce soon.”
News 6 emailed Uthmeier’s office asking whether it planned to provide a public update. The office had not responded as of this report.
Isaacs said getting her SUV back is an important part of moving forward.
“This is part of getting that closure — being back in my car that I worked so hard to get in the first place,” she said.
News 6 has also uncovered another Volusia County crash case involving some of the same troopers who investigated Isaacs’ case. A 19-year-old was killed in that crash. After the family raised questions and found inconsistencies in the original investigation, the Florida Highway Patrol said it would reopen the case.