Woman arrested on hit-and-run charge for October accident was on pre-trial release following DUI arrest

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Ashley Elizabeth Williams, 40, has been arrested for leaving the scene of an October accident involving property damage and injury, and she was also charged with possession of drug paraphernalia; at the time of the crash, she was on pre-trial release following an October 2 arrest for driving under the influence in Bradford County.

At about 6:49 p.m. on October 30, 2025, Gainesville Police Department (GPD) officers responded to a report of a two-vehicle crash in the 2500 block of NW 34th Boulevard that damaged both vehicles and injured a passenger in the other vehicle.

Gainesville Fire Rescue reportedly found Williams’s vehicle in the driveway of a home in Northwood Oaks and saw a woman with purple hair walking into the fenced yard of the residence. A GPD officer asked her if she had been involved in a crash and if the vehicle in the driveway was hers, and she reportedly said yes to both questions. The officer reportedly saw a glass pipe on the driver’s seat of Williams’s vehicle, and he noted that while she was collecting her paperwork, he saw her move the glass pipe.

The officer arrested Williams, and post Miranda, she reportedly said she wasn’t sure where the glass pipe was, but it was probably in the vehicle somewhere. The officer reportedly found the pipe under the driver’s seat. When she was asked what she smoked through the pipe, she reportedly said, “Crack.”

A sworn complaint was filed on November 10, and Judge Robert Groeb signed a warrant for her arrest on January 9, setting bail at $200,000. She was arrested on January 27.

Williams has been charged with leaving the scene of a crash involving non-serious injury, leaving the scene of a crash involving property damage, and possession of drug paraphernalia. She has three felony convictions (one violent) and one misdemeanor conviction for DUI; she has served one state prison sentence and was released in 2022. She was sentenced to probation in December after entering a plea of nolo contendere to driving under the influence in the Bradford County case.

Williams’s attorney filed a motion to reduce her bail of $200,000 on February 3, but Judge Groeb denied the motion on February 9, and she is still in the Alachua County Jail.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.