A Polk County detention deputy was killed Tuesday night in an off-duty crash on Interstate 4 near Haines City, cutting short the life and career of a 32-year-old deputy colleagues say was deeply committed to his work. Authorities identified the victim as Jonathan Morales Pabon, who was riding in the front passenger seat of an SUV when it was hit by a pickup truck. He suffered a fatal head injury, and investigators with the Traffic Homicide Investigations Unit are still working to piece together exactly what went wrong.
Polk County Sheriff's Office Statement
In a post on its Facebook page, the Polk County Sheriff's Office said Morales Pabon had been with the agency since 2021 and was assigned to the South County Jail's Alpha Platoon. The agency said he "died as a result of an off-duty motor vehicle accident" on I-4 near Haines City and asked the community to keep his family and coworkers in their prayers, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office.
Crash Details From Investigators
According to investigators, the collision happened around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday after a Nissan SUV driven by a 21-year-old Lake Wales woman passed under the U.S. Highway 27 overpass. They say she braked suddenly and crossed several lanes into the path of an eastbound Ford pickup. The pickup hit the SUV, causing Morales Pabon to slide into the rear of the vehicle and suffer a fatal head injury. Emergency crews took the SUV driver to a hospital with minor injuries, investigators told FOX 13 Tampa Bay. The Polk County Sheriff's Office Traffic Homicide Investigations Unit is leading the investigation.
Service, Background and Reaction
Morales Pabon was hired as a detention deputy in March 2021 and officially sworn in on May 17 of that year. Before joining PCSO, he worked as a corrections officer with the Florida Department of Corrections from 2018 to 2021 and earned an associate degree in HVAC from the Technical Career Institute in New York, according to the sheriff's office. Sheriff Grady Judd said the agency is grieving Morales Pabon's loss and again urged the public to keep his family in their prayers, per the Polk County Sheriff's Office.
Investigation and Next Steps
The Traffic Homicide Investigations Unit has not yet said whether criminal charges or traffic citations will be filed against the SUV driver, and the investigation remains active, according to FOX 13 Tampa Bay. No additional details have been released so far, and the sheriff's office has asked for privacy for Morales Pabon's family while investigators continue their work.
