POLK COUNTY, Fla. – A strange, deadly hit-and-run crash led to six undocumented immigrants being arrested this week, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
In a release, deputies said the investigation began early in the morning on Sunday at the Willow Oak Mobile Home Park.
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At the time, the sheriff’s office received a 911 call reporting the death of a 21-year-old man.
“The caller relayed... that the man was dead inside his home,” the release reads. “When deputies and detectives arrived, they quickly realized that the victim’s injuries were consistent with being run over by a vehicle.”
Per the detectives, the investigation revealed that a large party had taken place outside one of the trailers at the mobile home park on Saturday evening.
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“Nearly everyone at the party was consuming alcohol,” the release continues. “A witness told detectives that the victim was lying down on the driveway.”
Investigators said they learned that another man — identified as Ponciano Cinto-Ramirez, 52 — had gotten into a van parked on the driveway, put it into reverse, and backed over the victim before leaving the scene. The victim was later dragged inside his home and left there, the sheriff’s office revealed.
Afterward, people at the party yelled at Cinto-Ramirez that he’d run over the victim, though he continued to drive away, parking outside lot No. 32 and heading inside, deputies said.
But when deputies arrived at lot No. 32, they found that several people were inside — all of whom refused to exit, deputies added.
“Eventually, one by one, they came outside but refused to give deputies information or cooperate,” investigators wrote. “Two of the men who came outside gave false IDs to the deputies.”
Once all of the people were taken into custody and interviewed, deputies said they learned that all six of the suspects are in the country illegally from Guatemala.
As a result, all six suspects now face the following charges, which were enhanced due to their illegal statuses:
- Ponciano Cinto-Ramirez, 52
- Leaving the scene of a crash involving death
- Driving without a license, causing death
- Resisting arrest
- Alfredo Cinto-Ramirez, 48
- Resisting arrest
- Giving false information to law enforcement officers
- Rigoberto Lopez Morales, 22
- Resisting arrest
- Jacinto Lopez Morales, 46
- Resisting arrest
- Leonel Cinto Lopez, 24
- Resisting arrest
- Giving false information to law enforcement officers
- Ramiro Cinto Lopez, 23
- Resisting arrest
- Giving false information to law enforcement officers
- Possession of altered firearm
“All of these suspects are facing serious felonies, and ICE has placed holds on them as well to hopefully deport them back to Guatemala,” Sheriff Grady Judd stated. “What started out as a neighborhood party ended up with a 21-year-old man dead and a group of illegal aliens going to jail.”