Police: Man arrested in connection to fatal hit-and-run on Dixie Highway in Florence

Aaron Valdez, Cincinnati Enquirer
·2 min read

A man was arrested Wednesday on charges stemming from a fatal hit-and-run collision that occurred nearly nine months ago in Florence, Kentucky.

According to a press release from the Boone County Sheriff's Office, 28-year-old Jeovany Alexander Mendez was the driver of the Ford F-150 that fatally struck 38-year-old Simon Aguilar, who was riding his bike alongside Dixie Highway in the early morning of July 2. Police said Mendez fled the scene and abandoned the truck just south of the incident.

Detectives obtained a warrant for Mendez's arrest, but he had left the Northern Kentucky area, bouncing around between different states, including Ohio, Tennessee and North Carolina.

It wasn't until Wednesday that the United States Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force, which led the investigation into capturing Mendez, received a tip that he had returned to the area and was seen on Dream Street in Florence.

Mendez was getting into an SUV with his fiancé, 27-year-old Guisela Lopez Gomez, and his two children in a motel parking lot when the task force stopped the vehicle and arrested Mendez without incident.

Upon arrest, Mendez was found to be in possession of fraudulent identification cards. Gomez was also arrested after she was found to have two fraudulent Social Security cards, as well as a fraudulentidentification card.

Mendez now faces multiple charges in connection to the hit-and-run, including reckless homicide, leaving the scene of an accident, criminal possession of a forged instrument second degree and possession of an openalcohol container. He incurred additional charges of theft of identity and criminal possession of a forged instrument second degree related to the fraudulent identification cards.

Mendez Mendez is being held at the Boone County Detention Center where he is held on an immigration detainer.

Gomez has been charged with theft of identity and criminal possession of a forged instrument second degree in connection to the fraudulent Social Security cards.

She was held at the Boone County Detention Center but has since been released upon posting a $2,500 cash bond.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Man arrested in 2023 hit-and-run that killed cyclist in NKY