A manhunt is underway in Plant City.
Sgt. Al Van Duyne from Plant City Police Department said it all began with a relatively routine procedure.
At approximately 7:15 a.m. a Plant City Police Department officer was in the area of the Plantation at Walden Lake apartment complex looking for Emmanuel Sandoval, 30, a Plant City hispanic man that had an outstanding felony warrant.
The officer saw the suspect speaking to Daniel Castro, 26, a Plant City man driving a blue Ford Fusion. When
the suspect saw the officer approaching he jumped into the Ford Fusion and they fled the scene. The officer yelled at them to stop and identified himself as police, but those commands were not followed, according to Van Duyne.
As the car began to drive away the officer quickly grabbed a set of spike strips from his vehicle and deployed them in an attempt to get the fleeing vehicle to stop. He said it is unknown at this time if the deployment of the spikes was successful. The officer then jumped into his car and began pursuit.
Other officers responded and participated in the pursuit throughout the area, passing through several small roadways. The pursuit turned east again and officers managed to get close enough to the vehicle to read the license plate and sent it to the Communications Center. A traffic stop was attempted but was “quickly terminated” due to the reckless manner that Castro was driving the vehicle.
However, the erratic driving continued as the vehicle turned west onto Sammonds Road. PCPD was no longer pursuing the vehicle but said the car was going at a high rate of speed and failed to stop at the intersection at Woodrow Wilson Street.
There, Armando Lopez, 43, of Plant City, was walking along the south shoulder of Sammonds Road on his way to work at Commercial Concrete Products at 2705 Sammonds Road. PCPD said the high speed at which Castro was driving caused him to lose control of the Ford Fusion on the turn of the road.
Mere feet away from the entrance to the facility Lopez was struck by the out-of-control vehicle. He died at the scene.
“Unfortunately, the fleeing vehicle struck this male subject,” Van Duyne said. “He later was pronounced deceased. After the impact took place the vehicle was disabled and the three subjects in the vehicle — two male subjects and one female subject — they took off running from the vehicle in an attempt to evade police.
Officers had lost sight of the vehicle, but when they arrived they saw Castro, Sandoval and Sierra Vickery, 25, fleeing the vehicle. They attempted to escape on foot. PCPD officers pursued and captured Castro and Vickery. They were taken into custody and were questioned, according to Van Duyne.
Sandoval is still on the run. Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office provided aerial and K-9 support as well as ground units to attempt to locate the suspect. At this time he has not been found. Van Duyne said the active search with the helicopter and the canines has been suspended, but officers are continuing to canvas the area.
Van Duyne said Castro was charged with Vehicular Homicide, Leaving the Scene of a Fatality Crash, No Valid Driver's License involving a fatality, Leaving the Scene of a Crash Involving a Fatality, Aggravated Fleeing to Elude and Aggravated Assault on a Law Enforcement with a Deadly Weapon (Motor Vehicle).
Vickery was arrested on a warrant charge that was unrelated to this chase.
Sandoval has outstanding warrants for Grand Theft, Driving While License Suspended and Resisting an Officer without Violence, as well as several felony charges pending from this incident. Van Duyne did urge anyone who lived or worked in the area to use caution.
“It’s very sad, ultimately the loss of life is tragic and especially when you haven't done anything wrong and you’re just trying to get to work and do your shift and go home and enjoy your weekend,” Van Duyne said. “The circumstances as they are, the area where the crash occurred is a curved roadway. There’s some lighting down there, but it still may have been twilight, visibility may have been limited. He wasn’t wearing any reflective clothing, but he wasn’t doing anything wrong. He was just walking to work and unfortunately, this happened to him.”
This is an ongoing investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact PCPD at 813-757-9200. Updates to come.
*This story was updated at 4:40 p.m. on Nov. 16*