Driver charged in hit-and-run crash in PSL thought she hit something falling from tree, records show
PORT ST. LUCIE — Kirsten Nance’s ex-husband said Nance called him after a traffic crash and indicated something may have fallen from a tree and hit her Infiniti QX50.
The ex-husband also told Port St. Lucie police that Nance, 45, did not “seem to be acting out of the ordinary, only was upset about her windshield.” He thought she hit an animal or barricade in the road.
Police determined Nance fatally struck pedestrian Alexis Curbelo, 54, on Dec. 17 and didn’t stop on eastbound Southwest Crosstown Parkway just west of Interstate 95.
These and other details were in records released Wednesday supporting Nance’s arrest two days earlier on a felony charge of leaving the scene of a crash resulting in death.
She was released from the St. Lucie County jail on $25,000 bond, according to the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office.
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A phone message left Wednesday at a number listed for Nance, of the 5500 block of Northwest North Crisona Circle in Port St. Lucie, was not returned. An attorney for Nance is not listed on the St. Lucie County Clerk’s website.
Police shortly after 10 p.m. Dec. 17 went to the scene after a call to 911 “regarding a passerby that had observed a pedestrian in the median,” a news release states.
Two employees of a nearby Publix grocery store reported hearing “what sounded like a loud collision or gunshot” on Southwest Crosstown Parkway. They saw something flying, which they thought was an animal, and an eastbound vehicle.
About 24 hours after the incident, Nance came to the Police Department, asking to speak to an officer or detective. She said she’d been at a work Christmas party, and her friends brought the fatal crash to her attention. She left the party and went to the Police Department with her ex-husband, records state.
The day of the crash, Nance said she went to the gym after work before meeting her ex-husband and two children in Tradition. They decided to eat dinner at Sake Too Japanese & Thai Restaurant.
After dinner, Nance said she was driving back to her home.
She said she struck an “unknown object” that shattered her windshield, but didn’t slow down or stop. After arriving home, she saw more extensive damaged to her 2016 Infiniti and filed an insurance claim. She told police she did not know why she didn’t stop.
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Nance’s ex-husband verified going out to dinner with Nance, their children and son’s girlfriend. He said Nance called him after the crash and stayed on the phone until she got home. Police noted phone records showed a roughly 24 minute call at 9:43 p.m.
The ex-husband said she had one alcoholic beverage at dinner, and ordered a second but didn’t drink it because of an upset stomach.
Police noted the vehicle’s windshield was “completely smashed.” Hair and skin DNA from the vehicle matched Curbelo’s DNA, according to records.
Curbelo’s blood alcohol content was 0.252, which is more than three times the legal limit to drive.
Roommates of Curbelo at a sober home in Port St. Lucie where he lived for about a month said they last saw Curbelo at 7:30 a.m. Dec. 13 — four days before the crash. When he didn’t come home, the roommates thought he hitchhiked to Miami, which he spoke about frequently.
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One roommate told police Curbelo “was always talking about getting his work visa and going back up north,” records state.
Curbelo loved the outdoors, the roommates said.
Police learned of an incident in October in Okeechobee County. Deputies had been sent to Raulerson Hospital to take a “homeless individual,” identified as Curbelo, to an area where he stayed near the Okeechobee County Jail.
Curbelo told the deputy he wanted to enter the jail to stay a few nights.
Told by the deputy he couldn’t take him into jail without cause, Curbelo reportedly said to let him out of the patrol vehicle so he could walk into traffic and end his life.
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The deputy put him under a Baker Act, which permits people suspected of mental illness to be held, voluntarily or involuntarily, in a mental health facility for up to 72 hours for evaluation, if the person is deemed to be a threat to themselves or others.
Police reported the roommates at the sober home knew of no mental health issues.
Will Greenlee is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow Will on Twitter @OffTheBeatTweet or reach him by phone at 772-267-7926. E-mail him at will.greenlee@tcpalm.com
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This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: New details in fatal hit-and-run crash on Southwest Crosstown Parkway
