ORLANDO, Fla. – A 55-year-old man was arrested nearly one year after a hit-and-run crash that killed an Orlando man, according to an affidavit for an arrest warrant.
Rafael Rivera is accused of hitting and killing 28-year-old Jonnier Agosto Cortes on May 9, 2024, on Curry Ford near Holten Drive.
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According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the vehicle fled the scene, turned right onto Goldenrod Road and entered the parking lot of a Walgreens. The driver parked the car, checked the damage to the vehicle and drove away, the FHP said.
Using cameras at the nearby Walgreens where the vehicle stopped after the crash, the FHP located the suspect’s vehicle, a 2010 Mitsubishi Galant.
According to the affidavit, troopers spoke with the suspect’s girlfriend, who said Rivera had called her and said he struck someone riding a bicycle. When he returned home, the girlfriend said he parked the vehicle behind the house and covered the front with tarp to cover the damage, the affidavit said.
After the wreck, Cortes’ father described his son to News 6 as a “great father, great man.”
“They took him away for me,” Wilfredo Agosto said back in May. “So special. You know, right now, my heart is broken.”
Rivera faces charges of leaving the scene of a crash involving death and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.
A judge on Tuesday set a $20,000 bond on the charge leaving the scene of a crash involving death and a $1,000 bond on the charge of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.
