told Fox 13<\/a>.<\/p>\nThe impact pushed the Chevy into the right lane, where it was hit by a semi-truck, which then swerved, flipped over and slid to a stop on its side.<\/p>\n
The Atlanta Braves turned in one of their former minor league prospects, Jonathan Matos Morales, after he was accused of fleeing the scene of a deadly Florida crash that killed a father of four. Fox 13 Tampa Bay\/YouTube<\/p>\n
Police said Morales stopped briefly after the collision, then fled southbound.<\/p>\n
The semi driver, Owen Facey, 34, a father of four, was pronounced dead at the scene. <\/p>\n
The SUV driver, a 63-year-old man from Palmetto, sustained minor injuries, the FHP said.<\/p>\n
Before the deadly crash, Morales\u2019 Mustang was allegedly observed \u201cweaving in and out of traffic,\u201d Trooper Ken Watson told the outlet, adding that the truck driver never stood a chance to stop in time after the Trailblazer was pushed into his lane.<\/p>\n
\u201cDriving a vehicle like that high profile, early in the morning and with a full load obviously they can\u2019t stop on a dime,\u201d Watson said.<\/p>\n
Morales was tracked down later that day after Braves officials recognized his Mustang in the parking lot of the team\u2019s spring training facility, CoolToday Park.<\/p>\n
Morales, 18, was driving his 2022 black Ford Mustang down I-75 in Manatee County Monday morning when he collided with a Chevy Trailblazer traveling in the center lane. Fox 13 Tampa Bay\/YouTube<\/p>\n
Police said Morales stopped briefly after the collision, then fled southbound. Fox 13 Tampa Bay\/YouTube<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Atlanta Braves organization contacted the Florida Highway Patrol advising they may have found that vehicle within their complex. Advising they felt 99.9% sure that they had the vehicle,\u201d Watson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe immediately dispatched troopers to the scene, made contact with the Braves legal staff, and we were able to establish that was in fact the vehicle we were looking for, and then promptly able to make an arrest of our suspected driver.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following his arrest, the Braves acknowledged that Morales was \u201cformerly signed\u201d to the team\u2019s minor league system.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur organization is cooperating fully with authorities and will not have any further comment at this time. Our condolences go to the loved ones of all who were involved,\u201d the statement obtained by Fox 13 said.<\/p>\n
Morales was handed a $200,000 bond, ordered onto supervised release and told to surrender his passport if he makes bail. Fox 13 Tampa Bay\/YouTube<\/p>\n
The 18-year-old catcher is being held in the Manatee County Jail after being arrested late Monday for vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of a crash involving death.<\/p>\n
At his first court appearance Tuesday, Morales was handed a $200,000 bond, ordered onto supervised release and told to surrender his passport if he makes bail, Fox 13 reported.<\/p>\n
His lawyer pushed for a lower bond of $50,000, arguing that Morales makes very little income in the baseball farm system, has \u201czero criminal history\u201d and has been an American citizen since he was about 10 years old after immigrating from Puerto Rico.<\/p>\n
However, the State Attorney\u2019s Office pushed back, pointing to a citation Morales received in October for doing 81 mph in a 50 mph zone in Charlotte County and flagging an alleged comment he made suggesting he may be a flight risk if released on bail.<\/p>\n
Semi truck driver, Owen Facey, 34, a father of four, was pronounced dead at the scene. gofundme<\/p>\n
Facey is being remembered by his family as a hero for veering his truck away from plowing into the Trailblazer. gofundme<\/p>\n
The crash remains under investigation.<\/p>\n
The Braves signed Morales \u2014 a catching prospect \u2014 to a minor league contract on July 23, 2025, assigning him to the FCL Braves the next day and activating him on Aug. 4 before sending him to Cangrejeros de Santurce, a professional team in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in November.<\/p>\n
In the wake of the tragedy, Facey is being remembered by his family as a hero for veering his truck away from plowing into the Trailblazer.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe tried to save the vehicle, and he flipped right over,\u201d his mother, Judy Thomas, told Fox 13<\/a>.<\/p>\nThomas said her son had been driving for less than an hour and was working for the trucking business he co-owned with his cousin at the time of the crash.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen he flipped over (his cousin) called his name and no answer, he called his phone and no answer,\u201d the heartbroken mother said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPart of my life is gone.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Atlanta Braves turned in one of their former minor league prospects, who allegedly fled the scene of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":623352,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[4996,64,63,41292,48,1300,2755,48240,47486,591,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-623351","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-atlanta-braves","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-car-crashes","12":"tag-crime","13":"tag-death","14":"tag-florida","15":"tag-hit-and-run","16":"tag-minor-leagues","17":"tag-mlb","18":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=623351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623351\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/623352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=623351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=623351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=623351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}