Now to our other top story.
This evening just minutes ago,
the body of Pinellas County Deputy
Michael Hartwick arrived at the Thomas B
Dobies Funeral Home in Tarpon Springs.
A procession escorted him from
the medical examiner's office,
and people lined the streets to say goodbye.
Investigators say a construction
worker hit and killed him last night on
I-275 before running from the scene,
and this happened just before 11:00.
O'clock Deputy Hartwick was on
the site to help divert traffic,
according to investigators
deputies from multiple agencies.
At nearly nine hours searching
for the man responsible,
but later uncovered a larger concern,
10 Tampa Bay Shannon Chloe is live
outside the Sheriff's Office with
the latest updates in Shannon.
Now there are two people in custody.
Well, emerald, I can tell you this
Friday night it is somber here at the
Sheriff's Office as there's a memorial
set up and so many are grieving tonight.
I can tell you the sheriff is frustrated,
saying it took nearly nine hours
to make two arrests because people
were lying to investigators.
He says that created a roadblock
in this investigation.
Good guy, hard worker. Did his job
last night around 10:40.
Deputy Michael Hartwick was doing that.
Exactly. He was working the overnight
shift here along Interstate 275.
He parked his cruiser,
he got out of his car, and his job
was to protect construction workers.
Shortly after,
investigators say the construction front
loader was driving north on I-275.
That truck ran over Deputy Hartwick,
killing him instantly.
The driver, Juan Ariel Molina Salas,
never stopped
the. Operator of the front loader kept going.
He got on a phone call, called.
Another construction worker was
crying on the phone, not making Sense,
Sheriff Bob Gualtieri says Molina sales
kept going for about 1/4 of a mile,
pulling off into a parking area where
another construction worker was.
He told that other construction
worker that he just killed the
deputy and took off his hat and
took off his vest. Traffic vest,
handed it to him, told him to hide
it. That man later
identified as Eliezer Gomez.
Maya took Molina Salas's hat and vest,
hiding it in a wooded area.
Melina Salas ran and hid from deputies.
Chase him around and sift through all
this nonsense with all these people.
Why? And providing fake ID's.
And we spent we said about 9 hours
out there chasing this thing down.
What delayed the investigation?
We're witnesses lying.
Deputies were originally told Melina
Salas's name was Victor Vasquez.
The worker who hid his hat and vest
said his name was Glidden Soto.
More lies came from.
Construction workers on scene
who show deputies fake ID's.
The sheriff says many of
them are here illegally,
working for a company called Archer Western.
Molina Salas is from Honduras,
and the sheriff says he came into the
United States illegally from Mexico.
Go shouldn't be here.
He should have been driving that thing.
Shouldn't have fled,
shouldn't have done any of this.
Molina Salas is facing a charge of leaving
the scene of a crash involving death.
And As for Gomez Zelaya, he's facing
a charge of accessory after the fact.
I am told by the sheriff that Molina Salas
does have an immigration detainer on him.
What that means is if he does get
out of prison, ice will deport him.
As for those other construction
workers who lied to investigators,
the sheriff tells me it's
up to ice to deport them.
I'm live in Pinellas County,
Shannon Clowe, 10, Tampa
Bay. And we looked into that company, Archer.
Western they have a Tampa office
but are based out of Georgia.
They are a subsidiary of the
Walsh group out of Chicago,
now 10 investigators found that,
according to OSHA Records,
Archer Western has reported 4 on the
job deaths in Florida since 2018.
The most recent was in Clearwater
last October when a section of
concrete fell onto a worker.
Now, less than an hour ago,
10 Investigates got a statement from
Archer Western that says the company
extends its deepest sympathies to
the loved ones and law enforcement.
Officers who knew Hartwick,
a spokesperson says the company stopped
work on the project site and is now
fully cooperating with law enforcement.