Tampa man, 18, fled crash with woman’s remains still on car, troopers say
TOWN ‘N’ COUNTRY — An 18-year-old Tampa man was arrested for leaving the scene Monday night after he struck and killed a woman walking across Hillsborough Avenue, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
Jesus Manuel Diaz was speeding east on Hillsborough Avenue when he hit the 46-year-old Tampa woman, the Highway Patrol said. She was killed on impact.
The collision happened near Sawyer Road but Diaz continued driving another mile carrying the woman’s remains on his 2000 Acura Integra, according to the Highway Patrol. He is accused of stopping to clear off the car at Yosemite Drive and San Pablo Place.
Diaz was soon found and detained by Hillsborough deputies inside the Golfwood Estates neighborhood of Town ‘N’ Country. Troopers were called and arrested him on a charge of leaving the scene of a crash involving death.
Diaz was taken to the Hillsborough County Jail, where he remained Tuesday morning in lieu of a $15,000 bail.
The Highway Patrol did not identify the woman because of its interpretation of Marsy’s Law, an amendment to the Florida Constitution.
