AUSTIN, Texas — A woman has been captured weeks after allegedly hitting several pedestrians when she crashed into a food truck in southeast Austin.
Records show 38-year-old Regina Rodela was arrested on Nov. 7, following a crash on Elmont Drive near South Pleasant Valley Road that happened on Oct. 22.
Rodela now faces three felony charges in the crash that left several people injured after police initially said she was trying to hit someone she accused of stealing her phone.
According to court documents, a witness watched Rodela drive directly at two people sitting near the food truck before leaving the scene. The witness said Rodela was the same person who spoke to officers shortly before the crash about a stolen phone.
The court documents say one of the victims refused to sell his phone to Rodela before the crash and went about eating his food. That's when he heard an engine revving and allegedly saw Rodela driving toward him and another man before he was pinned under her Toyota.
He suffered a broken tibia that required surgery and fractures in his other leg. The other man suffered a fracture in his spine, a broken fibula and cuts to his feet consistent with "road rash." Two others sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
A witness inside the food truck said Rodela was armed with a kitchen knife after the crash and began walking toward the truck, so they locked the door and managed to escape the burning trailer that caught fire after the impact of the crash.
Police initially believed the person accused of stealing Rodela's phone was the father of her child, but later confirmed she had no relationship to any of the victims.
Rodela faces two counts of felony aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury and a count of felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. She remains in Travis County Jail on no bond.
