Details show what led to arrest of fatal hit-and-run driver in Fort Myers

Fort Myers police suspected Michelle Ochran was responsible for the death of Paul Hanson from the beginning.

They just needed to have proof before they could arrest her.

For crash homicide detectives, the easy part is finding the car. The hard part is proving who was behind the wheel at the time of the crash.

For months, police believed their suspect was Ochran, but it took months for them to make their case and be able to arrest the 51-year-old woman.

On Jan. 23, 2021, Paul Hanson was found dead along Fowler Street. His family was left to wonder who and why would someone strike him with a vehicle and then leave him to die.

Fort Myers police found a broken headlight at the scene and they used that to determine the driver of an older model Ford Explorer or Expedition killed Hanson.

Three days later, a tip broke the case. A woman called police after watching WINK News to report she had knowledge of who was behind the wheel. The informant had a conversation with one of Ochran’s employees who said Ochran was involved in the crash and needed her car fixed.

“Any hit-and-run, serious or fatal bodily injury, we need to find the car,” said traffic homicide investigator Daniel Aguilera. “The car is our evidence. Once we find that car that was involved, then we start following that car with other cameras we see where they turned.”

Investigators followed the Ford to Ochran’s house. Inside her garage, they discovered a silver 2004 Expedition with frontend damage, a missing headlight and blood/

Ochran’s attorney told officers she believed she struck a shopping cart but she did not stop because “his client suffered some traumatic events during her life which caused her to be fearful and not stop after being involved in the crash.”

Fort Myers police had a lot of circumstantial evidence but not enough to make an arrest.

“Just because the registered owner owns the vehicle doesn’t mean they’re the driver that night,” Aguilera said. “Hit-and-runs are very hard to investigate. And we take it personal because that could be anybody’s family member,  father, son, daughter.”

Police kept working the case and discovered who phone records put her in the area of the crash.

They got surveillance video before and after the hit-and-run and mapped out her route.

A year after the crash, she turned herself into authorities. She was released from jail after she posted $250,000 bond.

Ochran declined to comment when she was released from jail. Attempts to reach her on Tuesday were unsuccessful. Her attorney did not return a request for comment.