A suspect in the death of a Villager is being sought after forfeiting bond in the hit-and-and run case.
Jose Omar Azua, 34, of Leesburg, failed to show up in Lake County Court this week where he is facing charges of vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of an accident.
He allegedly fled the scene of a crash Aug. 20, 2016 that claimed the life of 54-year-old Lori Dudley who had been riding a motorcycle at U.S. Hwy. 27 and Tally Road in Leesburg. She later died at Leesburg Regional Medical Center.
Judge Don Briggs on Thursday ordered that Azua’s $35,000 bond be forfeited and once he is found, Azua is to be jailed without bond.
“The trial is frozen until further notice. The prosecutor’s hands are tied until he shows up. He ran! They don’t know where he is,” said Dudley’s eldest daughter, Elizabeth Casey.
She is in Michigan, but has been in close contact with the prosecutor’s office.
Her mother was beloved in The Villages where she was known as a doting dog walker.
A 1997 Saturn station wagon struck the rear end of Dudley’s 2011 Harley-Davidson’s motorcycle, according to an arrest affidavit from the Leesburg Police Department. Dudley had been thrown to the windshield of the vehicle and then rolled to the ground. A witness said the Saturn kept going.
When Azua was initially located down the road, he was not in the vehicle. He was talking on a cell phone. He claimed he had not been driving.
An investigator stated that Azua “had the distinct odor of alcoholic beverage emitting from his breath” and that he was “clearly intoxicated.” He would not consent to a blood draw and no witness could specifically place him at the wheel of the Saturn at the scene of the accident. He was released.
Azua voluntarily showed up Aug. 22, 2016 at the Leesburg Police Department. He spoke little English and required an interpreter. Eventually he admitted he had been driving the Saturn, had consumed several beers and indicated he kept going because he “was scared.”
Azua had has a number of driving-related offenses in Lake County:
• In December 2011, Azua had been sentenced to probation on charges of driving under the influence and resisting arrest.
• In May 2016, he was fined $173 and ordered to attend traffic school after he was cited on a charge of failure to yield to oncoming traffic.
• In May 2014, he was cited when he failed to yield as a pedestrian.
• In September 2011, he was fined after he was ticketed for speeding. He had been ticketed for speeding earlier that year, but was able to attend traffic school to avoid conviction.
