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Fatal Christmas Eve Crash Leads to Vehicular Manslaughter Charges Eleven Months Later
A car accident on Christmas Eve last year led to an arrest on Veterans Day this year, when Pasco County authorities arrested a Spring Hill man whom they say agreed to turn himself in but did not.
In the early morning hours of December 24 Victor Karl Valdez Jr. was driving his 1999 Jeep Cherokee on Monteverde Drive just over the Pasco side of the county line. According to FHP troopers, Valdez was speeding along the thoroughfare, and operating his vehicles without its headlamps on.
Per the troopers, Valdez’s vehicle struck a golf cart driven by Scott Blair Wilson, with Jennifer Boudreau, Leah Marie Kurasz, and Robert Frederikson along as passengers within. The end result of the meeting according to investigators was an uninjured Valdez in his vehicle, which lay on its side, and the ejecting of the golf cart’s four passengers.
Though first responders arrived soon after, authorities say the carnage was significant. Wilson was grievously injured, while Boudreau, Kurasz, and Frederikson did not survive the encounter. Valdez was uninjured in the wreck, but officers on the scene did not place him under arrest.
The investigation culminated in the issuance of an arrest warrant for Valdez. Though it was apparently known at the time that his driver’s license was suspended, authorities inexplicably took over five months to request the warrant.
Valdez, 33, was finally arrested on November 11 and was booked into the Pasco County Jail shortly thereafter. He is charged with three counts of manslaughter, one count of reckless driving causing serious bodily injury, and one count of resisting an officer without violence. Valdez is being held in lieu of a bail of $176,500.
The Law Offices of Bjorn Brunvand have been representing people charged with capital murder, felony drug charges, drunk driving, government fraud, and white-collar crimes for over a quarter century. Contact our office today to discuss your Tampa Bay-area state or federal charges.
