Crash claims Key employee

A woman’s death on Longboat Key earlier this month has left co-workers in shock and members of her family questioning whether the driver who pinned her against a wall deserved more than a ticket and a mandatory court appearance.

At about 8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 7, Longboat Key Quik-N-EZ Mart employee Karen Porter, 47, was sitting alone at one of three metal tables outside of the store when a man driving a Nissan pickup truck pulled into a parking space in front of the store, drove over the parking curb and pinned Porter up against the wall.

A Longboat Key crash report released last week revealed that Alfredo Loza, of Sarasota, who works at Pattigeorge’s restaurant, realized his brakes weren’t working when he pulled into the parking lot.

Loza stated in the police report his brakes were “acting weird earlier,” but he didn’t believe the problem to be anything serious.

Porter, meanwhile, was lucid after the accident, talking with Longboat Key police officers, firefighters and paramedics on scene about her injuries, which were listed as a collapsed lung, a possible fractured hip and possible internal injuries. Porter even attempted to get up after the truck was removed from the wall, but was advised not to and was transported to Blake Medical Center’s new trauma unit in Bradenton.
At the scene, Loza was issued a $160 traffic ticket for having improper brakes and was released.

A week later, the Longboat Key Police Department was informed that Porter died from internal injuries Aug. 14.

The news meant the Sarasota Police Department’s homicide unit was called in to review the case, even though the case has been deemed a traffic fatality, not a homicide.

Longboat Key Police Capt. Monica Quarmby said the only other change to the case was that Loza has now also been charged with careless driving because he knew his brakes weren’t working properly earlier in the day.

Loza is now mandated to go to court for the careless driving charge, which he can contest. Loza will not face any jail time because of the incident.

Dusty Fancher, Porter’s sister, sent an email to the Longboat Observer this week expressing frustration with the incident.

“The man who hit my sister admitted that he was having trouble with his brakes earlier in the day but didn’t think it was a big deal,” Fancher wrote. “Well, it’s a pretty big deal to me and to her parents, her two brothers, her four children, her five grandchildren and her 10 nieces and nephews. Plus the thousands of other people’s lives that she touched.”

Quarmby explained that because Porter’s injuries were not deemed to be life threatening at the time of the crash, the 2006 Nissan pickup truck was removed from the scene as per proper protocol, without any investigation being performed of the truck’s brakes.

Quarmby said Loza denied his foot slipped off the brakes and stated his brakes weren’t working.

“There was no indication the case was going to be fatal,” Quarmby said. “Homicide investigation protocol was not followed at that time because it wasn’t deemed a life-threatening issue … she was talking upon arrival.

“We have to maintain a chain of evidence,” Quarmby said. “To look at the truck now, after it’s been gone for weeks, would be improper and couldn’t be considered as proper evidence.”

Acting Police Chief Pete Cumming called the case “solid.”

“What was done that night was appropriate and complete and the Sarasota Police Department has confirmed that,” Cumming said. “SPD indicated they frequently have these types of accidents where someone appears to be fine after an accident and passes away later. It’s certainly a shame.”

Reed Savidge, owner of the Quik-N-EZ Mart, told the Longboat Observer he was shocked to get the call that night that Porter had been involved in the crash and even more shocked to find out she died a week later.

Porter, who was a former employee of the 7-Eleven that used to sit in the same location, always opened the store for Savidge with a 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. shift.

“She always worked the first shift and agreed to do an evening shift to help us while I searched for another employee,” Savidge said. “It was a fluke she was even working that night.”

Savidge said Porter, who had been an employee of the store since it opened in February, “always had a smile on her face.”

“She was a very happy person who enjoyed life and was well known by our customers,” Savidge said.
Kory Scruggs, manager of the Quik-N-EZ Mart, knew Porter better than any of the other employees. He was Porter’s son and recruited his mother to work at the store when it opened earlier this year.

“It’s been a tough couple of weeks,” said Scruggs, who said he was leaving town to clear his head and declined further comment.