The Polk County Sheriff’s Office Traffic Homicide Unit has issued an arrest warrant for a Guatemalan man who was here in the country illegally, charging him with leaving the scene of a crash with serious bodily injury, a first degree felony.
The crash occurred around 5:15 p.m. on Thursday, October 9th, on Campbell Road West in Lakeland. According to multiple witnesses and evidence at the scene, a 28-year-old Lakeland man was riding his electric bicycle westbound inside the fog line of the road when he was struck from behind by what appeared to be a tan Nissan Altima. The victim was knocked off his bike, and then run over by the car once he was on the ground. Witnesses reported that the driver, described as a Hispanic man in his 20s, got out, looked at the victim, then got back in his car and put the car in reverse, running him over again before fleeing the scene heading westbound. The victim was taken to a local hospital in critical condition.
The witnesses provided a possible vehicle tag and description, and the investigation ensued. Through investigative resources, detectives learned the vehicle was known to be driven by 21-year-old Erick Perez De Leon, who lives in a house on Old Tampa Highway in Lakeland.
Detectives responded to the house and spoke with three men inside, who were found to be in the country illegally from Guatemala. ICE was contacted, and all three of these illegal aliens were taken into custody:
Dany Perez De Leon, DOB 9/1/2004
Jorge Becerra Perez, DOB 10/17/1986
Urasis Chilel Perez, DOB 11/2/1982
They learned Erick De Leon is also here illegally from Guatemala. They contacted the Department of Homeland Security and learned De Leon boarded a plane in Orlando bound for Guatemala on Saturday, October 18th. The plane landed in Guatemala that afternoon.
Detectives found the suspect vehicle parked at another residence nearby. The homeowner, who had no knowledge of the investigation or car, told detectives that someone he knows as “Erick” asked if he could park the car there overnight and said he would come back in the morning to retrieve it – he never did. The car was towed from the scene and processed. Parts that were left behind at the crash location matched up to parts missing from the car, and biological evidence taken from the car was sent to FDLE for testing.
Detectives obtained an arrest warrant charging De Leon with leaving the scene of a crash with serious bodily injury (F1), and no valid DL with serious bodily injury (F2).
“If this suspect had not been in the country illegally, the victim would not currently be in the hospital with multiple critical facial and brain injuries. We will seek justice for this victim and his family, and work with the proper authorities to bring Erick De Leon back here to face his felony charges.” – Grady Judd, Sheriff
