Thread: U.S. Marshals arrest fugitive allegedly involved in fatal hit-skip | Simon Aguilar

Sheriff: U.S. Marshals arrest fugitive allegedly involved in fatal July hit-skip

https://www.fox19.com/2024/03/22/she...july-hit-skip/

By FOX19 Digital Staff

Published: Mar. 22, 2024 at 10:00 AM PDT
Updated: Mar. 22, 2024 at 12:40 PM PDT

FLORENCE, Ky. (WXIX) - A Northern Kentucky man was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service in connection to a July 2023 fatal hit-and-run, according to the Boone County Sheriff’s Office.

On July 2, 2023, Simon Aguilar, 38, was riding his bike alongside the Dixie Highway in Florence when a Ford F-150 fatally struck him and drove away.

The truck was found abandoned just south of where the crash happened, deputies said. The driver was later identified as 28-year-old Jeovany Alexander Mendez.

Investigators obtained a warrant for Mendez’s arrest, but could not find him, despite family ties to Northern Kentucky.

The U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force led the fugitive investigation where they later found out that he resided in different states over the past few months, including Ohio, Tennessee, and North Carolina, Boone County Major Philip Ridgell said.

On Wednesday, USMS received a tip that Mendez was back in Florence on Dream Street.

While there, Mendez’s fiancé, 27-year-old Guisela Lopez Gomez, and their two children were seen getting in an SUV that was being driven by Mendez in a motel parking lot, Ridgell explained.


Guisela Lopez Gomez is facing charges of theft of identity and criminal possession of a forged instrument, according to the Boone County Sheriff's Office.(Boone County Sheriff's Office)

The marshals stopped the vehicle and arrested Mendez without incident.

According to the sheriff’s office, Mendez was found in possession of fraudulent identification cards. Gomez was also arrested after authorities found her with two fraudulent social security cards as well as a fraudulent identification card.

Mendez was charged with reckless homicide, leaving the scene of an accident, criminal possession of a forged instrument, possession of an open alcohol container in connection with the fatal crash, theft of identity, and criminal possession of a forged instrument related to the ID cards.

His fiancé was charged with theft of identity and criminal possession of a forged instrument.

The couple was taken to the Boone County Detention Center, however, Gomez posted a $2,500 bond, and Mendez is currently being held on an immigration detainer at the jail.

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