Alleged culprit escaped, tracked down by bloodhounds
A sheriff’s deputy in Florida, U.S.A., working an overnight shift to provide safety at a construction zone, was struck and killed by a worker operating a front-end loader, according to a report.
Pinellas County Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Hartwick had started his shift shortly before the incident happened late Thursday on Interstate 275, Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said during a news conference. Hartwick had blocked the two inside southbound lanes of the interstate and was standing on the road’s shoulder when he was struck by the front end loader traveling at about 20 mph (32 kph), according to the report. Hartwick died instantly.
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The worker driving the loader was 32-year-old Juan Ariel Molina-Salles. Molina-Salles is a migrant from Honduras who arrived in March and was deported previously, according to the sheriff. “He shouldn’t have been here. He shouldn’t have been driving that thing. He shouldn’t be working,” he said.
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After the incident, the worker continued driving for about one mile before stopping in a parking lot, the sheriff said. He then told another construction worker that he had killed a deputy, and that worker took Molina-Salles’ gear and hid it in a wooded area.
Molina-Salles fled from the job site on foot. However, he was tracked down using bloodhounds, according to the sheriff.
Molina-Salles will be charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving death, which carries a minimum-mandatory four-year prison sentence. The other construction worker is being charged with accessory after the fact, AP reported.
