NSB salon owner charged in fatal hit-and-run: She told cops knowing what happened "gnawed" at her

Photo for Headline Surfer / Jana Calisse Grant, owner of the Rivendell Hair Salon on Canal Street, is chargd with failing to stop and remain at an accident involing death, a first-degree felony; and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, a third-degree felony.
 
By HENRY FREDERICK
Headline Surfer

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- Glenn Scott Gagnon, 42, died on the side of the roadway on the North Causeway just after 12:30 a.m. on Nov. 1. The vehicle that struck him never stopped.

The impact was so great that his left shoe was 5 feet away from his crumpled and bloodied body. His bandana was 11 feet from him in another direction.

Police would later learn that vehicle was a 2006 four-door silver Chevy Silverado and the driver was 47-year-old Jana Calisse Grant, owner of the Rivendell Hair Salon on Canal Street, according to charging documents released Friday by the New Smyrna Beach Police Department following her arrest on two charges: Failing to stop and remain at an accident involing death, a first-degree felony, and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, a third-degree felony.

Convictions on both charges carry a prison sentence of at least 15 years.

Here is a synopsis of the police charging affidavits:

Grant struck a pedestrian, resulting in his death and failred to immediately stop her vehicle and render aid to the person struck, in this case, Gagnon. Instead, she continued driving west on the North Causeway, knowing that a criminal investigation by law enforcement would be pending, resulting in any evidence in or on her vehicle being altered, destroyed or removed (alcohol or drug use).

The victim was laying face up in the 300 block of the North Causeway, when police got there. Police interviewed two people who saw the victim on the side of the road and turned him over to perform CPR. He died at the scene. Police interviewed two people who saw the victim on the side of the road and turned him over onto his back to perform CPR. He died at the scene.  There was a large pool of his blood three feet from his body. The Medical Examiner's autopsy three days later confirmed the injuries to his head, face and right side of his body were consistent with being struck by a passing vehicle.

The next day, Detective Dan Kennedy spoke with Gagnon's girlfriend, Chery Roy, who said he was drinking at the Flagler Tavern and was asked to leave by management, which upset him in a series of calls he made to her on his cell phone, the last one at 12:25 a.m. His body was discovered by a passerby at 12:43 a.m.

So how did police locate the suspected driver? Five days after the roadside homicide, New Smyrna Beach police "received a tip advising a female named Jana, who owns the Rivendell Salon on Canal Street in the city of New Smyrna Beach , left a party intoxicated , hit what she thought was a person on the North Causeway, and whom she thought she had killed. The tipster advised that Jana drives a truck or SUV, and the windshield is busted, and there is damage to the driver's side door."

On Nov. 7, through motor vehicle records, police identified Grant's vehicle as a 2006 Silver-colored, four-door Chevy Silverado, with tag number X867CA. That day police went to Grant's home on Rendy Road and asked to see the truck and she complied.

There was damage to the passenger side headlight (lens cover broken, small red droplets on the headlight), a large dent on the passenger side fender , 6-inch shattered area of right side of the windshield and the right side mirror was held in place by black tape.

According to the police report, Grant told police the damage to her vehicle was from a "deer she struck the week prior on Pioneer Trail." Asked if she had reported it, Grant responded, "Not yet."

Detective Kennedy asked Grant if she had talked to anyone about the incident and she said she hadn't. She was then informed by Kennedy that police tracked her down through a tip and that "this was her opportunity to be truthful."

Grant then confessed, according to the report, stating she was at a friend's house on North Peninsula, and had consumed a "glass of wine." While travelling west on the North Causeway, she observed an object moving out of the corner of her eye and "swerved to go around it and heard a thump."

Kennedy asked if she stopped at the scene and she said she hadn't because she was "afraid."

Kennedy asked if she had heard about the man's death as a result of this traffic accident through the news media and she said she had.

Police then wrote: "Ms. Grant stated this had been gnawing at her conscience."

The vehicle was impounded following execution of a search warrant.

Police spoke with a friend of Grant's who was with her at a party before the fatal accident. Rebecca Dolan said Grant had been drinking wine that night prior to getting in her vehicle, according to the police report. Dolan told police that Grant later told her that she had called another friend, Thomas Eichelberger, and that he drove past the accident scene where emergency vehicles had assembled and met her at the Wendy's resaurant on U.S. 1.

Dolan told police the friend was upset about the damage to her vehicle and followed her home. On March 3, according to the charging affidavit, Detective Kennedy spoke with Eichelberger who said Grant was at his home before leaving and then calling him from Wendy's to tell him that she had hit something and her mirror was broken. She left Wendy's before he get there and they agreed by phone to meet her her Canal Street salon. He saw the extent of the damage to her truck and followed her home.

The next day Grant came to Eichelberger's home with her daughter and asked him what she should do about the accident, according to the police report. "Mr. Eichelberger told her she should get an attorney."

The police report states that Grant told Eichelberger that she had gone to a carash and washed her truck. The charging affidavit states phone records subpoened by police show that five minutes after leaving the victim by the side of the road dying, Grant and Eichelberger made a series of phone calls to each other with the last one at 2:03 a.m.

The police report summarized justification of the felony charges: "Ms. Grant knew she was involved in a crash and knew the crash caused damage. Ms. Grant was also aware that a person was hit and killed on the North Causeway. Ms. Grant also destroyed the evidence of the crash by washing her truck."

The police report summarized justification of the felony charges: "Ms. Grant knew she was involved in a crash and knew the crash caused damage. Ms. Grant was also aware that a person was hit and killed on the North Causeway. Ms. Grant also destroyed the evidence of the crash by washing her truck."

The police report also states this was not the first time Grant had been charged with leaving the scene of an accident. According to her driving record, Grant was involved in a crash on April 15, 2006, and was charged with leaving the scene of that accident. Grant was found guilty of leaving the scene on June 21, 2006.