Blood splatter exposes tractor operator’s lie about co-worker’s death, FL cops say
A fantastical story of a man crushing his own head with a tractor came unraveled when deputies began questioning how he could be in two places at once, Florida investigators say.
Jose Lopez died from “severe head trauma” Wednesday, June 4, while installing sidewalks at an apartment development in Davenport, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office reported in an affidavit.
His head had been slammed by something, and it was evident the loading bucket of a nearby tractor was involved, deputies said.
Fellow construction worker Angel Bautista Martinez told deputies Lopez had accidentally crushed his head with the bucket, the affidavit reports.
“Angel stated the victim began to mess with the controls while standing underneath the loading bucket and then hit a control which caused the victim’s head to get caught between the frame of the skid steer and the bucket,” the report states. “Angel stated he was standing several feet away from the victim when this occurred and never touched the victim.”
Blood splatters led to that story falling apart, deputies say.
Specifically, there was blood in the cab of the tractor — except on the seat — and there was blood on Martinez’s pants “consistent with him being seated in the skid steer’s operating seat at the time the victim was crushed by the loading bucket,” the affidavit notes.
“When questioned further, Angel requested for an attorney.”
Another co-worker reported Lopez was seen “standing on the front of the skid steer” as someone else operated the tractor from inside, the affidavit reports.
Martinez, 29, was arrested and charged with manslaughter, the sheriff’s office said.
The charge is typically a second-degree felony, but it was upgraded to a first-degree felony due to Martinez being in the country illegally, the sheriff’s office said. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has also put a hold on Martinez should he be released from jail.
Davenport is about a 65-mile drive northeast from Tampa.