Man charged in fatal hit-and-run of Florida sheriff’s deputy is ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT expelled from US
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Man charged with fatal collision with Florida deputy sheriff is ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT who was expelled from US in October 2021, only to cross the border again without being caught
- Deputy Michael Hartwick, 51, was killed at approximately 10:40 p.m. Thursday night when a front-end loader ran into him while he was on the hard shoulder
- The construction worker driving the vehicle, Juan Ariel Molina-Salles, 32, did not stop but called a friend who was crying and said what he had done
- The friend, Elieser Aureilio Gomez-Zelaya, took Molina-Salles’ building vest and helmet and hid them in the woods
- Molina-Salles ran and a nine-hour manhunt was launched for him, which ended in his arrest
- On Friday, it emerged that the two Honduran-born men were illegally in the United States and working under false identities.
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A man arrested Friday on charges of killing a sheriff’s deputy in a hit-and-run crime was illegal in the country, it has been revealed.
Deputy Michael Hartwick, 51, was killed instantly when a front-end loader ran into him on Thursday night.
Hartwick was on the hard shoulder of I-275 when the vehicle driven by Juan Ariel Molina-Salles, 32, hit him at 10:40 PM in St. Petersburg.
Molina-Salles, a Honduran construction worker, tearfully called his friend Elieser Aureilio Gomez-Zelaya and told him what had happened.
Gomez-Zelaya then helped him, hiding his construction vest and helmet in the woods, and let Molina-Salles run away.
Molina-Salles had previously been intercepted illegally entering the US across the southern border in October 2021 and sent back to Mexico.
But since then, he had been able to enter the United States unimpeded at an unknown date, as President Biden faces mounting pressure over the historic number of people crossing the border illegally.
Deputy Michael Hartwick, 51, was killed in a hit-and-run Thursday night after a front-end loader driven by Juan Ariel Molina-Salles, 32, ran into him
Construction workers walk from the scene in the west lanes of St Petersburg’s I-275 the morning after Hartwick was murdered
Sheriffs are pictured on site Thursday night
Hartwick was killed instantly on Thursday evening around 22:40
The front-end loader is seen as abandoned on Friday morning, after Molina-Salles ran off the scene
A massive manhunt was launched and Molina-Salles was eventually found nine hours later by bloodhounds employed by Pinellas County sheriffs.
Elieser Aureilio Gomez-Zelaya, also from Honduras and illegally in the country, has been charged with aiding a crime
He was admitted to the Pinellas County jail Friday and is charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving death, a first-degree felony carrying a maximum sentence of 30 years and a mandatory minimum of four years.
Gomez-Zelaya is charged with complicity in retrospect, a crime.
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said both men, born in Honduras, were illegally in the United States and working under false identities.
Molina-Salles crossed Eagle Pass, Texas in October and was expelled to Mexico, but then crossed again and found work in Florida.
Gualtieri said other workers on the ground also gave false names.
“They hindered the investigation and failed to answer the questions we needed,” Gualtieri said.
Hartwick’s colleagues salute as the procession passes on Friday
Sheriffs lined the route as Hartwick’s funeral procession passed
Mourners lined the route of his last journey on Friday
Hartwick’s colleagues carry his flag-draped coffin
A memorial to Hartwick is pictured outside the Pinellas County Sheriffs Department
He said Hartwick was a 19-year veteran of the sheriff’s department, the father of two adult sons, and praised him for his work ethic.
“Mike was a good guy, a good cop,” Gualtieri said.
“He did his job.”
Hartwick’s colleagues paid tribute to him Friday with a procession through the streets. A memorial has been erected to the beloved sheriff.