Where’s Waldo? Lake County deputies, federal marshals want to know
Midway through his DUI/manslaughter trial this week, Zachery Waldo finally did what prosecutor Gabriel Lozano had feared he would do.
He jumped bail.
A warrant for Waldo’s arrest was issued Tuesday when he failed to return to the courtroom in Lake County after a lunch recess.
His defense lawyer, assistant public defender Raymond E. Sloan, couldn’t reach him by phone.
Sloan said he does not know where he is.
Circuit Judge Heidi Davis delayed the afternoon court session 30 minutes Tuesday to give Waldo extra time to return.
“But we kind of all knew what was going on,” said Lozano, who then made a motion to resume the trial in Waldo’s absence.
Known by the nickname “Big Bug,” Waldo, 36, was accused of killing three members of a Eustis family on Christmas Eve 2019 when he plowed a his pickup truck, going more than 80 mph, into their car as they were driving to Venetian Gardens to look at holiday lights.
The speed limit is 35 mph on East Dixie Avenue in front of Venetian Gardens.
The truck’s top speed was 96.3 mph two seconds before impact, according to the vehicle’s event data recorder, the truck’s so-called “black box,” a device which tracks speed, acceleration, braking, steering and air-bag deployment before, during and after a crash.
Leesburg police said they found a gun in the truck along with bags of marijuana they described as “indicative of narcotic sales.”
Waldo’s blood-alcohol level, recorded at Ocala Regional Medical Center about three hours after the crash, measured far above the threshold at which a person is considered to be under the influence, according to a supplemental Leesburg police report in court records.
Prosecutors had planned Tuesday to rest their case after two final witnesses, a medical examiner and Hunter Smith, who survived the collision that killed his father Christopher Smith, 44; his mother Jessica, 35; and his 13-year-old sister Hailey.
Age 11 at the time, Hunter remembered a bang and feeling sharp pain in his head. His sister fell into his lap.
He spent a year in a wheelchair recovering from his injuries.
The boy’s testimony caused courtroom spectators to sob, including some law enforcement officers, Lozano said.
But Waldo didn’t hear it. He was AWOL.
“He was too much of a coward,” Lozano said.
Waldo, whose defense had argued he wasn’t driving — a claim refuted by some witnesses — was convicted in absentia.
“It’s everybody’s Sixth Amendment right to be present at every crucial stage of a trial, but if you absent yourself, that’s not a violation of that right,” Lozano said.
Jurors deliberated less than an hour before finding Waldo guilty on three counts of DUI/manslaughter and one count of DUI resulting in serious bodily injury.
Lozano said the lowest permissible sentence for Waldo’s crimes would be 35 years but he could get a life term because his criminal history qualifies him to be designated a “habitual felony offender” and a “prison releasee reoffender,” both of which add prison time.
A sentencing date has not yet been set to allow federal marshals, Lake sheriff’s deputies and Leesburg police to search for him.
Though Waldo had previously served three stints in Florida’s prisons for a variety of crimes, he was granted pretrial release from the Lake County Jail in August 2020 after Magic Bail Bonds in Sanford posted $140,000 as surety that he would appear for all proceedings.
An employee of Magic Bail Bonds said the owner was the best person to answer questions and would be in the office Friday.
Leesburg Police Capt. Joe Iozzi said authorities have tried retracing Waldo’s trail, noting he apparently cut off an ankle monitor.
Until Tuesday afternoon, Waldo had showed for all proceedings as required despite the sentence he’d likely face if found guilty.
“Honestly, we had expected him to fail to appear,” Lozano said. “He was well aware of the all evidence — I made him aware on the record several times. So when he appeared for trial Monday, I was surprised, and when he came back Tuesday morning, I was even more surprised. ”
He said he concluded Waldo was “just gonna see what happens, but then, after lunch Tuesday, he’s just not there.”
If anyone sees Waldo, call 911 or contact Leesburg police at 352-728-9860.
