MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. — The Florida Highway Patrol says they’ve arrested a former minor league catcher for leaving the scene of a deadly crash.
Troopers say 18-year-old Jonathan Matos Morales caused the crash on I-75 in Manatee County on Monday, killing a 34-year-old man from New Smyrna.
Matos Morales is from Cocoa and signed with a minor league affiliate of the Atlanta Braves shortly after graduating from Rockledge High School.
According to troopers, it was actually someone with the Braves organization who called to alert FHP about a potential suspect vehicle in their spring training complex.
Matos Morales is now facing a first-degree felony charge for fleeing the scene of a deadly crash and a second-degree charge of vehicular homicide.
He was granted a $200,000 bond but had not bonded out of jail as of Tuesday afternoon.
If convicted, Matos Morales faces at least a 4-year mandatory prison sentence and up to 30 years behind bars for Failing to Stop or Remain at a Crash causing death.
The Florida Highway Patrol says they were able to solve the case in less than 24-hours, in part because of the cooperation of community members.
A witness provided the agency with dash camera video that captured the entire crash.
It shows the driver of a dark colored Mustang, who troopers say was Matos Morales, crashing into a Chevy Trailblazer, which then crashed into a Semi.
The Semi Truck overturned, and the Mustang took off after the crash.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the 34-year-old semi-truck driver did not survive the crash.
Within 24-hours, troopers said they arrested Matos Morales.
“Florida Highway Patrol would like to thank the Atlanta Braves administration, their legal team for doing the right thing, understanding that by doing this, we would be able to bring closure to this case, and hopefully bring a little bit of justice to the family of the man who lost his life early yesterday morning,” said Trooper Watson.
The Atlanta Braves Organization released the following statement to Channel 9:
“We are aware that a player who was formerly in our minor league system is under investigation related to a fatal accident that occurred yesterday in Manatee County. Our organization is cooperating fully with authorities and will not have any further comment at this time. Our condolences go to the loved ones of all who were involved.”
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