ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A St. Augustine man was arrested Wednesday over a year after he was involved in a hit-and-run crash in Orlando that killed a bicyclist, according to deputies.
Martin Collante, 29, is accused of vehicular homicide in connection with the fatal crash that occurred on Aug. 28, 2021, in the 100 block of W. Kaley Street.
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The wreck occurred when Collante was speeding east on Kaley Street at the same time the bicyclist, later identified as 52-year-old Wallace Afford, was traveling west on that same road, an arrest affidavit shows.
According to deputies, Collante was driving at about 77 mph in a 30 mph zone and swerving into the westbound lanes where Afford was peddling in a reflective safety vest with lights on. Upon Collante approaching, surveillance video shows Afford trying to maneuver out of the way, but the vehicle was moving too fast.
Collante struck the bicyclist and fled the area, the affidavit reads. Footage shows the suspect’s vehicle, identified as a 2021 black Toyota Camry, smoking from the engine on a neighboring road after the crash.
The damaged vehicle is then seen traveling south with its headlights off and blowing through a red light, according to the affidavit.
According to deputies, a witness who personally knew Collante told them the suspect drove the sedan to Hidden Creek Condominium Complex and was seen with blood all over him. The suspect “explained to the witness to have known he was in a vehicle crash hitting a person” and proceeded to wash the blood off his clothes in the shower, sheriff’s officials said.
The witness then retrieved the rest of Collante’s clothes, at his request, from his car, finding what he thought to be a brain in the vehicle. Deputies later confirmed brain matter was found within the back seat floorboard.
Deputies said Collante later abandoned the sedan in a water retention ditch at the 1500 block of S. Oxalis Ave. after driving it into the water. Collante then returned to the witness’ place in an attempt to hide, but the witness refused and he is later seen hopping the fence at a separate residence within the complex.
He faces charges for vehicular homicide and failure to render aid, leaving the scene of a crash with death and tampering with physical evidence. He is currently booked in the Orange County jail, where he is being held on a $18,500 bond.
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