Spain Returns Tampa Fugitive Wanted In Fatal 2012 Crash

TAMPA, FL — A Hillsborough County fugitive whose story appeared on CNN’s “The Hunt” in 2014 is back in the Tampa Bay area to face charges in connection with a 2012 wrong-way crash that claimed the life of a 20-year-old Wesley Chapel man. Former Carrollwood area resident Christopher Ponce’s extradition from Spain was completed on Thursday, April 6, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

The now 26-year-old Ponce was booked into the Hillsborough County Jail early Friday on a long list of charges related to the 2012 wrong-way crash on Interstate 275 and his subsequent flight to Spain. The highway patrol announced last August that Spanish officials had captured Ponce, who was implicated in a July 19, 2012, crash on I-275 near Interstate 4.

Troopers said Ponce, who was 22 at the time, was driving a Ford Fusion southbound in the northbound lanes just before 3 a.m. Ponce’s Fusion struck a Ford Mustang driven by William Brooks Angel, 20, head on, a highway patrol report said.

Angel died at the scene. Two passengers in Angel’s car were taken to a local hospital with serious injuries.

Ponce also suffered serious injuries in the crash. He was arrested on July 20, 2012, after release from Tampa General Hospital. Troopers charged him with DUI manslaughter, vehicular homicide, two counts of reckless driving involving serious bodily injury and two counts of DUI with serious bodily injury.

Ponce was booked into the Hillsborough County Jail. He was later released on bond, but was ordered to wear an ankle monitor. Ponce, however, slipped that monitor and hadn’t been seen again until his arrest in Spain in 2016.

The multiyear search for Ponce captured national and international attention. CNN’s “The Hunt,” hosted by John Walsh, put a spotlight on the case back in 2014.

Ponce was being held in the Hillsborough County Jail without bond on Friday morning. The list of charges against him includes failure to appear on DUI manslaughter, DUI with serious bodily injury, vehicular homicide and reckless driving with serious bodily injury.

Booking photo courtesy of the Hillsborough County Jail