Guatemalan Arrested for Hit and Run of PC Marcos Acal

Police are coming down hard following a deadly hit‑and‑run that claimed the life of a police officer in the south. Thirty‑year‑old Guatemalan cattle truck driver Juan Carlos Estrada Prado is facing multiple charges after police say he knocked Special Constable Marcos Acal off his motorcycle on the Thomas Vincent Ramos Highway Friday night and then drove off. Investigators say Constable Acal was struck just after seven‑thirty and was later found badly injured along the roadway. He was rushed to the Southern Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. The truck driver and two passengers were eventually intercepted miles away. While Estrada Prado has been charged, questions remain about why the passengers have not. Today, we asked Assistant Superintendent Stacy Smith why they, too, have not been held accountable for failing to report the incident.

 

ASP Stacy Smith, Staff Officer

“Police have formerly arrested in charge Juan Carlos Estrada Parado, a thirty-year-old Guatemala national of Santa Cruz Village for the crimes of manslaughter by negligence and causing death by careless conduct and the offenses of drove motor vehicle without drew care and attention, failing to report an accident and failing to stop and render aid. Whilst the investigators were processing the scene intelligence was obtained in relation to a vehicle of interest that was seen in the Punta Gorda jurisdiction, and that information was relayed to police officers in Punta Gorda. The officers intercepted a Hino brand pickup truck at the dump in Punta Gorda and on board that vehicle were Prada, as well as two other male persons. And an inspection of that vehicle showed signs of damage and apparent blood.”

 

 Shane Williams

“Will the other occupants of the vehicle be charged as well?”

 

ASP Stacy Smith

“Certainly we have tasked the person in responsible for the traffic section of the department to see what, if any, charges can be brought against the others because as you would know, they were suspected to have been on board the vehicle at that time of the accident, and they in fact had duty to report such accident.”

 

Police say they’re taking a firm stance after a hit-and-run on the Thomas Vincent Ramos Highway killed Special Constable Marcos Acal, with a Guatemalan truck driver now charged and investigators weighing possible action against the two passengers who were with him that night.