Florida: Woman accused of hitting, killing tow truck driver appears in court

The woman accused of hitting and killing a tow truck driver appeared in court briefly Monday morning. Allison Huffman, 36, remains in jail after the mid-February crash that killed Roger Perez. He was helping a stranded driver along the Howard Frankland Bridge when troopers claim Huffman struck him with her car and kept going. He died at the scene.

Fellow tow truck drivers showed up at the Hillsborough County Courthouse several hours before the hearing Monday morning. “We need to show our strength of our brotherhood of our united group of people of our industry, to show that we are taking this very seriously,” said tow truck driver Ginger Darling.

Perez’s sister, Zarais Perez-Borroto, drove from Miami to Tampa to be in the courtroom early Monday morning. “To physically have her just a few feet away from me is very, very hard,” Perez-Borroto said.

It was the first time both women were in the same room together. “We all make mistakes,” she said. “But it’s her behavior after the fact. A life is a life. You shouldn’t just leave someone out like that. It’s meaningless, like they meant nothing,” she said.

Court records show Huffman has been arrested at least four times in the past for DUI. She has three convictions. Judge Vivian Corvo scheduled Huffman to appear in court again on June 22.