Polk County Hit-And-Run: 'Coward' Responsible Should Come Forward, Sheriff Judd Says

LAKE WALES, FL — A $3,000 reward is being offered in a Saturday morning hit-and-run on State Road 60 that left a Tampa woman dead and a Polk County deputy injured.

According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, Deputy Adam Pennell, 25, was on his way to call, heading westbound on State Road 60. As Pennell was traveling between Tiger Lake and Sam Keen roads, he saw a woman standing in the grassy median by herself.

Pennell told dispatch he was stopping to check on the woman around 12:34 a.m. Oct. 29. He activated his lights, pulled over and spoke with the woman. At 12:35 a.m., he called for EMS to assist after learning the woman had been in a crash and her vehicle had struck a tree. At 12:37 a.m., Pennell reclassified the call to a traffic crash before updating dispatch at 12:38 a.m. with more information.

When EMS arrived on the scene at 12:45 a.m., they found Pennell and the woman, Jessica Enchautegui-Otero, 33, of Tampa, suffering from serious injuries related to a hit-and-run crash. Enchautegui-Otero was taken to Lake Wales Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead. Pennell was taken to Lakeland Regional Health with serious injuries. He is expected to recover, the sheriff’s office said.

The sheriff’s office said Enchatutegui-Otero’s 2009 Toyota Matrix was found completely off the roadway. She was heading east on State Road 60, just east of Sam Keen Road, when she left the road and hit a tree.

The vehicle that struck the two is believed to have been heading westbound. Deputies say the unknown vehicle entered the median, hit the two and then fled the scene.

“We do not have any information about the suspect vehicle,” an email from the sheriff’s office said. “We are hopeful someone will have information about this. The vehicle will have front-end damage.”

Deputy Pennell's wife, Deputy Christin Pennell issued the following statement late Saturday morning:

Our prayers are with the family of Jessica Enchautegui-Otero, and we remain hopeful that with the public's help we will find the person responsible for killing her and severely injuring Adam. We appreciate everyone's support while Adam faces upcoming surgery for his injuries, and we ask for your privacy and your prayers. More than anything we hope the suspect is found. Please join us in keeping Jessica's family and loved ones in your prayers during this extremely difficult time.

Deputy Adam Pennell was hired by the Polk County Sheriff's Office in December 2013. Christin Pennell was hired by the agency as a clerical assistant in 2011. She put herself through the law enforcement academy, the sheriff's office said in an email to media. She became a deputy in May 2014.

Adam and Christin Pennell were married in March 2016.

"We are confident that with the community's help, we will identify and arrest the coward who ran over a deputy and a young woman and left them both for dead, and then fled the scene," Sheriff Grady Judd said following the crash. "We will work day and night until this case is solved. And to the coward who did this - we advise you to turn yourself in, sooner rather than later."

Anyone with information is asked to call Heartland Crime Stoppers at 1-800-226-TIPS. Information that leads to an arrest could be worth a $3,000 reward. The reward's amount was raised from $2,000 shortly before 10 a.m. Saturday.

Photos courtesy of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office