Man who strikes, kills motorcyclist guilty of driving without a license

JURY VERDICT: Man who strikes, kills motorcyclist guilty of driving without a license

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Albino Contreras drifted into oncoming traffic and struck a motorcyclist, severing his leg and throwing him from his bike into a canal.

Albino Contreras, 55.

David Szewczykowski, 68, of Davenport, went into cardiac arrest and died before paramedics could transport him to the hospital. At the time of the crash, Contreras had not been issued a Florida driver’s license.

A jury found Contreras guilty Aug. 10 of driving without a valid license, resulting in death or serious injury. He will be sentenced September 28.

Assistant State Attorney Jennifer Van Der Burgh recounted the fatal crash on May 3, 2016.

Szewczykowski was driving on Dean Still Road when Contreras drove his car into the opposite lane, colliding with the motorcycle. Szewczykowski was thrown from his motorcycle and landed in a water-filled canal.

Passersby who saw the aftermath of the crash got out of their vehicles to help while first responders made their way to the scene.

Alan Akouka and Curtis Barnes saw Szewczykowski submerged in the water and jumped in to help pull him to the shore and hold his head above the water. Initially, Szewczykowski wasn’t responsive, but he slowly started talking about how the car came at him and how his leg didn’t feel right.

Akouka and Barnes stayed with him until paramedics arrived. Polk County firefighter Will Wilson was one of the first medics to reach Szewczykowski.

By that point, Wilson said, Szewczykowski was conscious, alert and in excruciating pain. They pulled him from the water to see that his left leg had a partial amputation.

“He was in severe distress with components of his body starting to shut down,” Wilson said, pausing to regain his composure as he recalled the incident. “The helicopter was landing when he went into cardiac arrest.”

Assistant State Attorney Jennifer Van Der Burgh tells jurors during closing
arguments August 19 that the victim would not have died if Contreras had
not been driving. He faces nearly eight years in prison.

Szewczykowski was pronounced dead upon his arrival to the hospital.

The defense claimed the crash was an accident and that it was not proof that Contreras was being careless or negligent while driving. Because he did not flee after the crash and fully cooperated with law enforcement, the defense argued there was no way to prove Contreras was careless or negligent.

Van Der Burgh told jurors in her closing statements that Contreras’ actions proved just that.

“The point of impact was in David’s lane. The crash reconstruction proves that,” she said. “How else do you explain a vehicle ending up on the other side of the road if not for careless and negligent conduct?”

The defense also argued that it wouldn’t have made a difference if Contreras had a license – that it wouldn’t have changed the outcome. But Van Der Burgh said that the entire incident would have been avoided if Contreras had not been driving.

“If he’d honored the laws of Florida by not driving without having a license, he would not have been on the road that day. If he was not on the road that day, David would still be here,” Van Der Burgh said. “Come back with the only verdict that makes sense, which is guilty.”

Frostproof man guilty of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer

JURY VERDICT: Frostproof man guilty of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer

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Polk County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Noah Cannon heard a truck door close and the engine start to rev.

Erick Monk

Seconds later, he saw Erick Monk – the suspect he and five other deputies were serving a warrant to – come barreling around the corner in a pickup truck. Cannon and the other deputies shouted commands for Monk to stop the vehicle – he didn’t.

Cannon and another deputy had to jump out of the way to avoid being struck.

A jury found Monk guilty Wednesday of two counts of attempted first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer and resisting officers with force while armed. He faces a mandatory life sentence, which will be imposed September 22.

Assistant State Attorney Stephanie Weil took jurors back to the early morning hours of March 3, 2016, around 1 a.m.

Six deputies surrounded Monk’s house, which is situated on the edge of an orange grove, and had their weapons drawn with flashlights on as they exited the groves and stepped on to his property. As they approached the house, they heard movement by the front gate.

The deputies immediately identified themselves as members of PCSO and said they were there to arrest Monk, who immediately began cursing and demanding they leave his property. He then ran away from the gate and into the dark.

As the deputies then set up a perimeter around his house, Cannon heard the truck door slam and its engine rev up.

“The truck turned toward me and the engine revved,” Cannon said from the witness stand. “He drove directly at me.”

Cannon said he was getting ready to fire his weapon at Monk when he saw another deputy behind the truck and in his line of sight. That’s when Cannon did the only thing he was able to: jump out of the truck’s path.

Assistant State Attorney Stephanie Weil addresses jurors in her closing
arguments August 9. Monk faces mandatory life in prison after being convicted.

“If I hadn’t jumped out of the way, I would have been hit,” he said.

As Monk continued driving the vehicle and rounded another corner of the house, he came up on PCSO Deputy Dustin Freeman.

“His headlights followed me as I tried to move out of the way. He was veering off the path and driving toward me as I was trying to run,” Freeman said from the stand. “I could see nothing but headlights on me once he came around the corner. I thought he was going to run me over.”

“I was afraid he was going to kill me or one of my partners,” he said.

That’s when, Freeman said, he raised his weapon and fired three rounds at the vehicle in an attempt to stop the threat. As soon as the first shot was fired, Freeman watched as Monk immediately turned the truck away from Freeman.

Monk lost control of the vehicle and struck a citrus tree. He then exited the truck and got on his knees, where the deputies were able to contain him.

During the trial, Monk took the stand, claiming he didn’t know the men on his property were deputies because he never heard the identify themselves. ASA Weil reminded Monk of his own father’s testimony: The deputies’ yells were loud enough for his father, who is hard of hearing, to have heard who they were from the inside of the house.

Monk then claimed he was able to see their patrol cars, which were parked 150 yards away and had all their lights turned off, but he did not see the deputies emerge from the orange groves with flashlights.

In a last attempt to defend himself, Monk said that the mother of his son’s child was staying in the shed with him and had an active warrant out for her arrest. The reason why he got in the vehicle was to lure deputies away from her – not to harm them in any way.

“Every single deputy told you they believed either their life or somebody else’s life was in danger. Could they all be mistaken?” Weil asked jurors. “The only source of conflict in this entire trial is the testimony of Monk – he is not credible.”

Man pleas guilty to the murders of two men, faces 40 years in prison

PLEA: Man pleas guilty to the murders of two men, faces 40 years in prison

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Assistant State Attorney John Waters, right, stands with Hudson and his attorney as a guilty plea is entered before Judge Harb Friday morning.

Tobarais Hudson pled guilty to the second-degree murders of Kody Zawalski and Christopher Campbell.

Hudson, 28, was scheduled to go on trial for first-degree murder Monday but pled Friday to a lesser included offense of second-degree murder in both cases. He will receive 40 years in prison when his sentence is imposed at the end of September.

The plea agreement protects the surviving victims and the deceased victims’ families from having to endure a jury trial, and it eliminates the lengthy appellate process that often follows a murder trial.

Tobarais Hudson

Hudson was involved in the 2012 shooting of Christopher Campbell, a known drug dealer, where he and two other co-defendants robbed and fatally shot him.

He was also involved in a 2015 home-invasion robbery that resulted in the death of Kody Zawalski. Hudson and a co-defendant armed themselves and went to a house in Lakeland, demanding drugs and money.

Zawalski was fatally shot, two others were critically injured and a fourth victim was struck.

While Hudson did not shoot and kill Zawalski, he was an active participant in the robbery, meaning he was also responsible for the outcome.

In court Friday morning, Hudson apologized to Zawalski’s family.

“I didn’t shoot, but I’m just as guilty. I just want you all to forgive me,” Hudson said, tearfully. “Multiple families have lost somebody. … I’m sorry. I can’t say sorry enough.”

Lakeland man sentenced to 20 years for using Taser to punish children

SENTENCING UPDATE: Lakeland man sentenced to 20 years for using Taser to punish children

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Eduardo Vazquez had been disciplining children by holding a stun gun to their bare skin and zapping them with it.

Eduardo Vazquez, 22, of Lakeland.

He pled guilty to nine counts of contributing to the delinquency of a child, seven counts of aggravated child abuse two counts of false information to a law enforcement officer and tampering with physical evidence on April 25 and received 20 years in prison, followed by 10 years of probation.

As a punishment for disobeying, Vazquez was shocking the children with a Taser. Of the nine children 22-year-old Vazquez was around, two were removed from his custody because they had “patterned bruises” and “two-prong burns” on their backsides.

One of the children had 10 two-prong burns on his skin. The second child had at least 15 burns.

William Torres-Morales was also arrested for using a Taser on the children. Elizabeth Tarvin and Veronica Sanchez did not use the Taser but were aware of the abuse — they were also arrested.

From left to right: William Torres-Morales, Elizabeth Tarvin and Veronica Sanchez.

Tarvin, who failed to report Vazquez’s abuse to law enforcement, pled to six counts of child neglect and one count of neglect of a child with great bodily harm on March 1 and was sentenced to 10 years of prison, followed by 10 years of probation.

Sanchez is still incarcerated and has not yet been sentenced.

Torres-Morales was found incompetent by a judge on July 31 and was ordered to complete competency training, with reviews every six months. If he regains competency, the courts will move forward with his trial.