Polk County deputies arrested six people they say were in the country illegally after the body of a 21-year-old man who had been run over was found inside a trailer at a mobile home park in Mulberry, Florida.
A 911 call early Sunday led deputies to the Willow Oak Mobile Home Park, where investigators found the victim inside his trailer. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office said the man died of injuries consistent with being run over by a vehicle after attending a late Saturday party where "nearly everyone" was consuming alcohol.
Sheriff’s deputies said a witness told them 52-year-old Ponciano Cinto-Ramirez got into a van parked in the driveway, put it in reverse and backed over the victim before driving away as others at the scene shouted. Deputies later located Cinto-Ramirez and went to arrest him on suspicion of leaving the scene of a crash involving death. When they approached his mobile home, several people inside initially refused to come out, the sheriff’s office said.
The sheriff’s office said the individuals were eventually taken into custody but would not cooperate with investigators. Two people reportedly gave false names. Authorities later determined all six suspects are Guatemalan nationals who are in the United States illegally, the sheriff’s office said.
Sheriff Grady Judd said the suspects "are facing serious felonies, and ICE has placed holds on them as well to hopefully deport them back to Guatemala." In a separate statement, he said, "What started out as a neighborhood party ended up with a 21-year-old man dead and a group of illegal aliens going to jail."
Cinto-Ramirez was charged with leaving the scene of a crash involving death, driving without a license causing death and resisting arrest, according to the sheriff’s office. The five others arrested were identified as Alfredo Cinto-Ramirez, 48; Rigoberto Lopez Morales, 22; Jacinto Lopez Morales, 46; Leonel Cinto Lopez, 24; and Ramiro Cinto Lopez, 23. All five were charged with resisting arrest. Alfredo Cinto-Ramirez, Leonel Cinto Lopez and Ramiro Cinto Lopez face additional charges of giving false names to police, and Ramiro Cinto Lopez was charged with possession of an altered firearm.
Polk County deputies said investigators continue to probe the circumstances surrounding the party, the victim’s actions prior to the incident and the roles of those arrested. The sheriff’s office identified the cause of death as injuries consistent with having been run over but has not publicly released the victim’s name.
An immigration detainer, known as an ICE hold, was placed on the suspects following their arrests. An ICE hold is a request that local authorities notify federal immigration officials before releasing a detainee so the agency can take custody; it does not by itself effectuate removal and subjects individuals to separate federal procedures.
The case highlights intersections between criminal investigations and federal immigration enforcement, but prosecutors must still prove criminal allegations in court. The sheriff’s office provided the charges; court records must be consulted for updates on formal indictments, arraignments and potential pleas. Polk County law enforcement did not provide additional details about the investigation timeline or the identities of witnesses beyond the initial account given to deputies.