Bowling Green man arrested in hit and run that killed 9-year-old boy south of Fort Meade
A 45-year-old Bowling Green man was arrested overnight after authorities say he confessed to driving the truck that struck and killed a 9-year-old boy south of Fort Meade on Friday.
Gilbert Almaguer was booked in the Hardee County Jail late Friday night or early Saturday morning. He was expected to be extradited to Polk County at a later date, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office.
On Friday, about 5 p.m., 9-year-old Andres Martinez was riding his bicycle to a friend's house on rural Hutchins Road southwest of Fort Meade when a red Chevrolet Silverado struck him, splitting his bicycle in half and sending the boy flying 50 feet into a neighbor's yard. Video and still photographs from neighbors' surveillance cameras showed the red truck, in stunning detail, driving down the road at what appeared to be a high rate of speed. The posted speed limit on Hutchins is 45 mph.
The Polk County Sheriff's Office sent alerts to the community asking for help finding the truck.
According to an arrest affidavit, Almaguer contacted the Hardee County Sheriff's Office shortly before 10:30 p.m. and told them he was a passenger in the truck that hit the boy. Bowling Green police, Hardee sheriff's deputies and Polk County traffic homicide detectives went to his residence on Avon Street in Bowling Green, where he said the truck was. The truck had damage consistent with the accident.
Almaguer went to the Bowling Green police station and gave a statement. He told authorities the truck was registered to his mother but was driven by a friend of his named Hector Ramirez. According to the arrest affidavit, Almaguer said he let Ramirez drive because Almaguer was tired and didn't have a valid driver's license. He told authorities he didn't know what Ramirez hit and thought it might have been a mailbox or post.
He said that after the crash, Ramirez drove the truck to Bowling Green and got out near some railroad tracks, according to the affidavit. From there, Almaguer said he got in the driver's seat and drove the truck home. He told police he knew Ramirez but didn't know exactly where he lived, nor did he have a phone number for him.
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Authorities took Almaguer back to his home, where authorities remained awaiting a search and seizure warrant for the truck. A short time later, according to the arrest affidavit, he came out of the house and approached an officer, admitting that he was the driver of the truck and the only occupant at the time of the accident.
According to the affidavit, Almaguer told the officer outside the home that the boy came out of nowhere, and after the accident, Almaguer got scared and drove home immediately. After seeing on Facebook that a boy died, he said he called the Hardee County Sheriff's Department.
Almaguer faces a first-degree felony charge of leaving the scene of a crash without rendering aid (involving death).
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Bowling Green man arrested in hit and run that killed Fort Meade boy
