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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Moments after a deadly crash, a driver with a smashed-up windshield was pulled over by a Pinellas Sheriff Deputy; and then, let go.
As 8 On Your Side reported on Thursday, there is an internal investigation underway.
Now, we’ve learned that the deputy is not working a desk job, he’s on the street.
8 On Your Side Investigator Mahsa Saeidi continues to dig into the story she broke.
It appears the deputy did not know there had just been a fatal hit-and-run nearby but he did know the girls were involved in a crash.
They said so on camera.
We had several veteran law enforcement officers watch the video footage.
They all say it raises questions.
As the Pinellas Park Police Department investigated a deadly hit-and-run, a few miles away, a deputy from a different agency, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, had pulled over a car.
A tail light was out.
It was 3:18 a.m. on Saturday, July 29th.
“Oh damn, I ain’t even seen this, okay. Where did this happen? Where did that happen?” asked the deputy.
“Somebody hit us,” responded one of three women in the vehicle.
The deputy sees the windshield is shattered and the women claim they got into a crash at the club.
The deputy runs the license of the driver, identified as Anaya Millan.
“How far you guys gotta go?” asks the deputy, “…three minutes down here?”
The stop isn’t over but the deputy’s body camera turns off. What he may not have known, a different camera was still rolling.
8 On Your Side obtained a video from a nearby business. It shows the deputy on-scene as Millan, and the passenger switch seats, and drive away.
Now, Millan is charged with a first-degree felony.
Pinellas Park PD says just minutes before the traffic stop with the Pinellas Sheriff’s deputy, Millan ran over bicyclist William Rothey.
William Rothey, known as Willie, was born and raised in Pinellas County. Years later, this is where he became a father.
Now, he’ll never be able to see his 6-year-old son again.
“He loved hard, he was fiercely loyal, he had a huge family,” said Brian Rothey, Willie’s big brother.
“It’s not like they just bumped into him or hit him, um, he was mowed down,” said Brian.
But the driver, Ms. Millan, is not the only one in trouble. The deputy who conducted the traffic stop is also under investigation.
“When he turned the body camera off that was troubling,” said Randy Sutton, a former Lieutenant with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
Sutton has conducted thousands of similar stops.
“Coming from a club, well 3’oclock in the morning, that’s prime time for DUI drivers,” he said.
“Her body movements with opening and closing the window several times, that would indicate to me that there should’ve been field sobriety tests done at the scene.”
Sutton says the deputy should’ve conducted a field sobriety test, and that’s protocol. But not everyone agrees.
Ruben “Butch” Delgado is the former Interim Chief of the Tampa Police Department.
“I don’t want to speculate on any of that, to say she was drunk,” said Delgado.
But Delgado says if the camera was turned off, on -purpose, that’s a problem.
“As a male, you’re interacting in a car with 3 females in it, it’s probably even more important to keep the camera on the entire time.”
Pinellas Park PD is investigating the hit-and-run.
They have not charged the driver, Ms. MIllan with any DUI-related offense. Instead, she’s charged with leaving the scene of a crash, involving a death.
According to court documents, the Pinellas deputy helped crack the case.
After he released the car, he realized it was involved in this hit-and-run, and reportedly shared the info of the driver with the neighboring jurisdiction.
If you have a tip or comment, email Mahsa at MSaeidi@WFLA.com
