The man charged as the driver in a hit-and-run in Maryland is an undocumented immigrant who was recently released from federal prison.
Gilbert Celaya Diaz, 42, was arrested in connection with a hit-and-run crash that claimed the life of 26-year-old Jack Price in Montgomery County, Maryland, earlier this month, according to a press release from Montgomery Newspapers. was arrested last week. County police station.
Prosecutors say Zelaya-Diaz, who has eight aliases, entered the country illegally in 2019, the report said. Report from NBC 4Meanwhile, a Montgomery County enforcement statement said he had “a history of charges of driving with a suspended license, driving without a license, speeding, armed robbery, second-degree assault, and possession of a controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute.” There is.” ”
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Gilbert Celaya Diaz (Montgomery County Police Department)
He was released from federal prison in July 2023, according to Federal Bureau of Prisons records, and was on probation at the time of the incident, NBC 4 reports.
Price, a father and uncle, was riding a skateboard when he was hit by a vehicle that fled the scene, according to the indictment. Zelaya Diaz was able to evade police for more than a week, but he was arrested after investigators used license plate databases and vehicle records to narrow their search to his vehicle.
Prosecutors asked that Zelaya-Diaz be held until trial, citing his criminal history and the fact that he had failed to appear in court five times in the past. He remains in custody at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility, according to public records.
The vehicle was allegedly driven by Gilbert Celaya Diaz during a hit-and-run incident in Montgomery County, Maryland. (Montgomery County Police Department)
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Price’s father, Marcus Grivings, praised police efforts to track down Zelaya-Diaz and told NBC 4 that Zelaya-Diaz was a “bad guy.”
“It doesn’t change the situation, but we’re grateful he was arrested,” he said.
Border wall along El Paso, Texas. (Kelly Laco/Fox News Digital)
Meanwhile, a memorial remains at the accident site, where Price’s neighbor nailed a white skateboard to a telephone poll marking the date of his father’s murder.
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“Since it happened, I think it was the next day, my neighbor nailed a skateboard up there and put up flowers and candles and pictures,” Grivings said. “He didn’t deserve it, he didn’t deserve it. He was thinking about himself.”
