LAKELAND, Fla (WFLA) — The Polk County Sheriff's Office said an arrest warrant has been issued for a Guatemalan man accused of a hit-and-run in Lakeland earlier this month.
On Oct. 9, at around 5:15 p.m., a 28-year-old Lakeland man was riding an e-bike on West Campbell Road when he was struck from behind by what witnesses described as a tan Nissan Altima.
The man was thrown from the bike and run over by the Nissan. Witnesses told police that the driver got out of the car, saw the victim, got back into his car, put the car in reverse and ran over the man again before fleeing.
The victim was taken to the hospital in critical condition, PCSO said, and remains there as he continues to recover from serious injuries to his face and brain.
Witnesses provided a description of the vehicle and the driver, described as a Hispanic man in his 20s, that led police to 21-year-old Erick Perez De Leon who lived in Lakeland.
Officers went to his home and spoke with three men who were found to be in the country illegally from Guatemala. ICE was called and the three men, ages 21, 39 and 42, were taken into custody.
It was at this time that deputies learned the suspect in the crash was also here illegally from Guatemala. When PCSO contacted the Department of Homeland Security, they learned that Erick De Leon had gone to Orlando and boarded a plane heading for Guatemala on Oct. 18.
The tan Nissan Altima that De Leon was driving was later located at a nearby residence, and the homeowner told detectives that he didn't know it was involved in an investigation. He told police that someone he knows as "Erick" asked to park the car there overnight and said he would pick it up in the morning, but never came to retrieve it.
PCSO was able to confirm that it was the car used in the crash by matching missing parts with what was found at the scene. Biological evidence taken from the car was also sent to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for testing.
Although De Leon remains in Guatemala, an arrest warrant has been issued charging him with leaving the scene of a crash with serious bodily injury and no valid driver license with serious bodily injury, both felonies.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said his office will be working with the appropriate authorities to organize De Leon's return to the U.S. to face the charges.
