VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — More than six months after a deadly high-speed crash on I4 killed the Flagler County deputy administrator, his wife, and a motorcyclist, investigators believe they finally have the person responsible in custody.
It’s a different person than the 23-year-old woman they accused and arrested in April, Lindsey Isaacs, who tearfully stood outside the Volusia County courthouse in DeLand Saturday and explained she was still getting death threats about the crash she had nothing to do with.
“I’m sorry to the three families that the justice wasn’t shown correctly,” Isaacs said. “It breaks my heart, but I’m a victim, just like those families are victims.”
Saturday morning, prosecutors announced they arrested 47-year-old Alisa Lee Montalvo of Deltona on nine charges, including vehicular homicide, leaving the scene, and tampering with evidence.
Their initial announcement did not explain how they shifted from Isaacs to Montalvo – and why it happened months after Isaacs’ arrest.
Isaacs’ original arrest affidavit said she was identified because one witness told troopers the hit-and-run vehicle was a black Durango, a Flock license plate reader registered Isaacs’ car – a black Durango -- a few miles away from the crash site, “smudge” marks were seen on her car, and Isaacs told investigators she was a good driver when they questioned her.
Later Saturday, Isaacs’ attorney Patrick McGeehan and documents provided by prosecutors late Saturday laid out a picture: prosecutors became extremely concerned about the case, “discrepancies” in the investigation, and an overall lack of evidence tying Isaacs to the crash, especially after McGeehan pointed out Isaacs’ car had no damage.
Montalvo’s arrest affidavit said prosecutors contacted FHP leadership in Tallahassee, who ordered a higher-level team, known as the Specialized Investigation and Reconstruction Team (SIRT) to take over the case.
SIRT, in conjunction with prosecutors, began reaching out to additional witnesses who had not been interviewed about the crash. One of the witnesses was the daughter of Joaquin Deno, the motorcyclist who died in the crash.
Deno’s daughter identified Montalvo as the driver, saying they had all been hanging out at a Seminole County event space earlier in the night.
SIRT investigators also listened to a 911 call reporting the crash that described the offending car as maroon, not black like Isaacs’ car, and gave a partial plate number that matched Montalvo’s.
Additionally, investigators inspected the other cars involved in the crash and found that red paint had been transferred onto them rather than black paint.
Montalvo, they said, drove a maroon-colored car, which they noted had visible repair work done to it where damage would’ve occurred had it been involved in the crash. They tracked the car’s movements through the regional camera system and located an auto body shop, where the owner confirmed he had worked on the car and provided pictures of the damage.
After they inspected the car’s computer, SIRT investigators noted the car drove at 112 miles per hour seconds before alerting to a possible crash.
In explaining the misdirection in the initial investigation, the SIRT team leader noted that it was dark when the crash occurred, and a maroon car could have easily been mistaken for a black one. However, they did not explain why troopers didn’t consider the paint color or interview more witnesses about the crash.
FHP spokespeople refused to answer questions emailed to them on Saturday, providing only a brief statement listing Montalvo’s charges.
McGeehan slammed troopers for their lackluster investigation.
“It’s something we’ve seen before,” he said. “This is probably the worst example I’ve seen.”
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