Former Polk County Deputy Joshua Roelofs is now a fugitive, wanted on charges stemming from a deadly 2022 crash in Tampa that claimed the lives of two men and left another permanently disabled, as reported by Tampa Bay Times. Roelofs, who had been relieved of his position in 2015 for filing inaccurate time records, allegedly caused the fatal incident on the Courtney Campbell Causeway while driving under the influence.
The crash resulted in the death of Kris Koroly and Ricky Gongora, both 44 years old, and the events leading to his trial have been marked by delays and now, his sudden disappearance, Roelofs who was scheduled to appear in court this April to determine his plea and was a no-show for that critical date, as noted by Fox News. This has prompted the issuance of an arrest warrant and a continuation of the anguish for the affected families.
According to court records initially reported by FOX 35 Orlando, before Roelofs’s vanishing act, he was released on a $19,000 bond and had the option to confront the accusations or plead guilty, yet his failure to appear has left those involved bereft of the closure they had sought. Victoria Negrete, sister of Ricky Gongora, expressed her feelings to the Tampa Bay Times, saying, “It kept the wound festering, I just feel violated and hopeless.”…