A Florida sheriff’s deputy working a night shift providing security at a structure domain was struck and killed by an employee driving a front loader that is in the United States illegally, authorities said Friday.
Pinellas County Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Hartwick began his shift some time before the crash occurred Thursday night on Interstate 275, Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said at a pair of news meetings Friday.
The initial call given through the worker, Victor Vazquez-Real, is false, Gualtieri said. His genuine call is Juan Ariel Molina-Salles, 32, who the sheriff says is a migrant from Honduras who arrived in March and deported earlier.
“It’s been ici. I’ve driven this thing,” Gualtieri said of the giant road-structure vehicle. “He works. “
Molina-Salles fled the structure site on foot, allegedly with the help of a colleague, but hounds were eventually discovered, the sheriff said.
The sheriff said Hartwick blocked the two inner lanes south of the road and the state on the shoulder of the road when he traversed the front loader traveling at about 20 mph (32 km/h). Hartwick died instantly.
The employee of the structure continued to drive about 1. 6 kilometers before stopping in a parking lot, the sheriff said. Gualtieri said the guy told the structure employee that he had killed a lawmaker. The employee took Molina-Salles’ device and hid it in a wooded area. , according to the sheriff.
The sheriff said Molina-Salles would be charged with leaving the scene of a twist of fate that resulted in the death, carrying a mandatory 4-year minimum criminal sentence if convicted. The other employee of the structure is accused of being a partner after the fact.
It didn’t take long to clarify whether Molina-Salles had an attorney who could speak on his behalf. He had not yet been jailed until Friday afternoon.
Hartwick had been with them for 19 years.
“Mike is a smart guy, a smart cop,” Gualtieri said. “He did his job. “
The company that employs the two workers, Tampa-based Archer Western Construction, did not respond to a phone call seeking comment. The company is involved in several primary transportation projects in the Tampa Bay area, some related to contracts with the state of Florida.
Gualtieri referred the case to U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which has jurisdiction over immigration matters.
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ workplace issued a statement saying the state was investigating whether undocumented immigrants used fraudulent data to get jobs with contractors working with the state of Florida.
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