Plastic, surveillance video help Stuart police build case in fatal hit-and-run crash

STUART – Surveillance footage, witnesses and a piece of plastic from a Land Rover helped police link a couple to a March hit-and-run crash that fatally injured a 74-year-old man in a motorized scooter, recently-released records show.

Stacey Carey, 39, and her fiance, Thomas Gity Jr., 44, were arrested April 27 following a Stuart police investigation into the March 16 crash at Northwest Federal Highway and Northwest Wright Boulevard just north of the Roosevelt Bridge.

Killed in the crash about 9:52 p.m. was Harry “Joe” Maser, who police stated was struck by a northbound vehicle as he crossed Northwest Federal Highway using a motorized scooter.

Police determined Carey, arrested on charges including failing to stop and remain at a crash involving death, and tampering with evidence, drove a 2021 Land Rover Range Rover at the time. Gity, arrested on a tampering with evidence charge, was accused of helping conceal the vehicle and cover up damage.

New details about how investigators said they connected Carey and Gity to the case were revealed in court records released this week.

A witness told police he drove with his girlfriend north on Northwest Federal Highway when he saw a man in an electric wheelchair crossing the street. He said the light was green for northbound traffic, and was surprised someone was crossing the road then. He reported seeing two sets of headlights behind him and one of those vehicles struck Maser.

The man’s girlfriend told investigators her boyfriend’s vehicle nearly struck Maser because he was close to them.

At the crash site, police found a piece of plastic later identified as coming from the right front bumper of a Land Rover full-size Range Rover made from 2013 to 2022.

Surveillance video near the crash scene showed Maser crossing Northwest Federal Highway east in the crosswalk. A white Range Rover with black top and black trim on the side struck Maser and left.

Police reported using “confidential law enforcement technology” to identify a 2021 Range Rover with a specific license tag as having been at South Kanner Highway and Southeast Federal Highway near downtown Stuart, about 3½ hours before the crash. The vehicle was registered to Gity.

Additional cameras in the area and in downtown Stuart captured a white Range Rover with black top and black trim. One camera appeared to depict a woman driving. Minutes before the crash, a camera captured a white Range Rover with black top and black trim turning north onto Southwest Federal Highway from Southwest Joan Jefferson Way at the south base of the Roosevelt Bridge.

Investigators found Carey was the driver in a January traffic crash in the 2021 Range Rover investigated by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office.

Investigators saw what appeared to be a large SUV-type vehicle under a car cover in the garage of a home linked to Gity on Southwest Cattleya Drive off Southwest Locks Road west of Florida’s Turnpike. Investigators executed a search warrant and found a 2021 Range Rover with damage to the right front area.

Investigators also searched Gity and Carey’s home on Southwest Mancuso Avenue in Port St. Lucie.

Under questioning from police, Carey ultimately said “she heard something and kept going. Carey advised, ‘Oh my God, I hit something,’ so she called Gity to tell him that she hit something but did not know what it was,” a complaint affidavit states.

Carey nodded she knew what she did and didn’t come forward because she was scared. She said it wasn’t on purpose and didn’t realize Maser was there. Carey found out two days later she hit a person via social media.

Gity initially said the Range Rover on March 18 struck something in the road that dropped from a truck bed. He said he exited I-95 in Stuart and the vehicle “died.” He asked friends for help in pushing the Range Rover into the garage.

Police said they didn’t believe his story, and he ultimately said he was trying to protect his fianceé.

He said Carey called him upset. He said Carey indicated she struck “a sign or something in the street and that she heard a bang,” records show.

Police spoke to a man who reportedly was with Carey in downtown Stuart at a restaurant before the crash. He said he had two drinks, but did not know whether she drank. Less than 30 minutes before the crash, police reported Carey tried to make two Uber payments that were declined.

Carey was released April 27 from the Martin County Jail on $260,000 bail, while Gity was released the same day on $10,000 bail, according to Laurie Weber, sheriff’s spokesperson.

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Will Greenlee is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow Will on X @OffTheBeatTweet or reach him by phone at 772-267-7926. E-mail him at will.greenlee@tcpalm.com

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: New details in Stuart police probe of deadly crash; two arrested