JUPITER, FL – A 29-year-old man is accused of pushing his ex-girlfriend from a moving pickup truck and then running her over during a late-night incident that left the woman seriously injured along a Palm Beach County roadway. Investigators say the suspect later attempted to deflect blame, telling a witness at the scene that “she did it to herself.”
Austin A. Pare was arrested and charged with one count of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon following the incident on Center Street. Deputies with the Jupiter Police Department responded after multiple callers reported a woman lying in the roadway surrounded by debris, including a purse, shoes, and what appeared to be blood.
According to a probable cause affidavit, witnesses described a chaotic scene. One witness initially believed the woman was dead before noticing a pickup truck stop nearby and a man approach her. When the witness looked back moments later, both the woman and the vehicle were gone.
Witness accounts and scene evidence
A second witness told deputies she “observed an object flying through the air. At first, she believed it to be a bush or a tree branch and then realized it was a person.” As she got closer, she saw a blonde woman wearing a black tank top lying in the road near a matte gray pickup truck with white doors.
The witness reported that a white male was standing over the victim when she confronted him. According to the affidavit, the man responded, “she did it to herself.” The witness then told investigators she watched the man drag the woman into the truck and leave the scene.
Deputies later recovered blood spatter and scattered personal belongings, including a phone, purse, and a bloody towel. Identification found inside the purse helped officers identify the victim and initiate a welfare check.
Hospital visit and suspect identification
Around the same time, officers at Jupiter Medical Center encountered a woman limping into the ambulance bay with visible abrasions. Initially, she told staff she could not remember what had happened.
As investigators searched for the suspect vehicle, a license plate recognition system identified a gray Dodge pickup believed to be involved. Shortly after, hospital staff received a call from a man identifying himself as “Austin,” asking about the victim.
According to a sworn statement from a hospital employee, the caller “spontaneously uttered ‘she jumped out of my car’” when asked about his relationship to the victim. He told staff he had been dating her for six years but declined to come to the hospital.
Victim statement and prior allegations
Investigators later spoke with the victim’s mother, who identified the truck as belonging to Pare and described a history of alleged abuse, including prior incidents in which the victim had been pushed from a moving vehicle.
After initially stating she could not recall the events, the victim later provided a sworn statement detailing the alleged attack. She told deputies that she and Pare had been drinking on the beach before an argument escalated inside the truck.
According to the affidavit, “The argument escalated when, on Center Street, Austin physically pushed [the victim] out of the moving pickup truck, causing the abrasions visible on her arms and face.” The statement continues, “[The victim] stated that Austin intentionally struck her with the Dodge pickup, causing additional abrasions.”
The victim told investigators she was loaded back into the truck and lost consciousness. “Austin proceeded to load[] her in the vehicle, and left the scene,” the affidavit states. She later regained consciousness alone and began limping away to find help.
The affidavit also alleges that Pare’s mother later picked up the victim and, during the drive to a hospital, threatened “to harm” the victim and her mother if she reported the incident to police.
Pare is being held at the Palm Beach County Jail on a $40,000 bond and is scheduled to return to court for a hearing on July 2, according to court records.