Suspect in Ferndale Hit-and-Run Free on $25,000 Bond

FERNDALE, MI — A Gibraltar woman accused in a hit-and-run accident that critically injured a Sterling Heights woman early Saturday morning as she and 10 other pedestrians were crossing Woodward Avenue was arraigned in court Tuesday and released on $25,000 bond.

Gina Hovell, 27, was arraigned on a charge of leaving the scene of a serious injury accident in Ferndale 43rd District Court. As a condition of bond, Magistrate J. Patrick Brennan required that she refrain from using drugs and alcohol and submit to random testing, The Daily Tribune reported.

The charge is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of $5,000. Her pre-exam conference will be held at 1 p.m. Sept. 22, also in 43rd District Court.

The victim, 30, remains hospitalized in critical condition. She was thrown into the air and was knocked unconscious with head injuries after she was struck head-on about 2:15 a.m. Saturday, police said. Hovell had a green light, but didn’t slow down when she entered the intersection of Woodward and Nine Mile Road where 11 pedestrians were crossing, according to police.

In a statement Tuesday, Ferndale Detective Lt. William Wilson said Hovell finished her shift at her job about 10 p.m. Friday, and then consumed “several drinks” at a Ferndale bar before leaving about 2 a.m.

Hovell was arrested after police distributed photos of her car taken by the dashboard camera of a police cruiser involved in an unrelated traffic stop. A citizen who saw a car matching the description in Farmington contacted police, and Hovell was arrested later at her parents’ home in Gibraltar.

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