Police to arrest driver suspected of fatal New Year's Eve hit-and-run in Greenacres

Valentina Palm, Palm Beach Post
·2 min read

GREENACRES — Law-enforcement officers have identified the man they say struck and killed a 91-year-old Greenacres-area woman with his SUV on New Year's Eve, and then fled the scene.

The suspect, Oscar Cruz Fuenleal, of Greenacres, is in jail in DeSoto County, which is west of Sarasota and north of Fort Myers. He was booked there for unrelated vehicle offenses on Monday, Jan. 8, eight days after the hit-and-run collision that killed pedestrian Illodia Phadael.

DeSoto officials arrested Cruz Fuenleal, 45, on charges that he was driving without a license and vehicle registration.

Cruz Fuenleal will be extradited to Palm Beach County, where he will face charges for leaving the scene of a crash involving death, said Teri Barbera, spokesperson for the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.

Officers in DeSoto County arrested on Jan. 8 2023, the man believed to have driven a Jeep Liberty involved in a fatal hit-and-run in Greenacres New Year's Eve.
Officers in DeSoto County arrested on Jan. 8 2023, the man believed to have driven a Jeep Liberty involved in a fatal hit-and-run in Greenacres New Year's Eve.

According to the PBSO crash report, Cruz Fuenleal was driving eastbound on 10th Avenue North on Sunday, Dec. 31, in a silver Jeep Liberty. He had a 43-year-old woman and a 4-year-old girl as passengers in the vehicle with him.

Phadael was crossing the intersection at 10th Avenue North and Walker Avenue, near John I. Leonard High School, at about 9:15 p.m. when a vehicle struck her, according to the traffic report. The impact threw Phadael to the ground and medics from Palm Beach County Fire Rescue pronounced her dead on the scene at 10 p.m.

[1:28 PM] Elia, Thomas

Cruz Fuenleal didn't stop and then turned north onto Haverhill Road, the traffic report said. Neither he nor his two passengers sustained injuries in the incident.

In Florida, leaving the scene of an accident involving death is a first-degree felony that can carry a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.

Barbera said deputies used license-plate readers, traffic cameras and "old-school police work" to track down Cruz Fuenleal in the Arcadia area, more than 140 miles away from the crash site.

Valentina Palm covers Royal Palm Beach, Wellington, Loxahatchee and other western communities in Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post. Email her at vpalm@pbpost.com and follow her on Twitter at @ValenPalmB. Support local journalism: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Police to arrest suspect in Greenacres New Year's Eve hit-and-run