{"id":142930,"date":"2026-02-04T04:41:26","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T04:41:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/142930\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T04:41:26","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T04:41:26","slug":"jury-seated-in-trial-for-former-polk-county-deputy-accused-of-killing-2-in-courtney-campbell-causeway-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/142930\/","title":{"rendered":"Jury seated in trial for former Polk County deputy accused of killing 2 in Courtney Campbell Causeway crash"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Ex-deputy <\/p>\n

TAMPA, Fla. – Jury selection began on Monday in the trial for a former Polk County deputy charged with DUI manslaughter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The backstory:<\/p>\n

Joshua Roelofs is accused of crashing into a car on the Courtney Campbell Causeway in 2022 and killing two people inside. The crash happened in the early morning hours of April 13, 2022, when Tampa<\/a> police said Roelofs was driving about 100 mph.\u00a0<\/p>\n

RELATED: Former Florida deputy who skipped DUI manslaughter trial caught in Colombia: TPD<\/a><\/p>\n

That’s when he rear-ended a Kia Sorrento with four people inside. The SUV overturned, investigators said, killing two 44-year-old men: Kristopher Koroly and Ricky Gongora. A 36-year-old man and a 33-year-old woman also suffered critical injuries.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Investigators arrested Roelofs the following month on several charges, including two counts each of vehicular homicide and DUI manslaughter.<\/p>\n

Dig deeper:<\/p>\n

Jury selection in his trial was set to begin in April 2025, but Roelofs was a no-show. The judge issued a warrant for Roelofs’ arrest and revoked his bond, saying he would reassess the case once Roelofs was back in custody.<\/p>\n

PREVIOUS: Former deputy no-shows DUI manslaughter trial, warrant issued<\/a><\/p>\n

The Tampa Police Department said the U.S. Marshals Task Force provided information on Roelofs’ whereabouts to Colombian authorities on Aug. 11. Detectives arrested him at a hotel in Antioquia, Colombia, according to TPD.<\/p>\n

Colombian authorities flew him back to Florida to face charges.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Pictured: Joshua Roelofs in court.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Roelofs previously worked for the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, but wasn’t employed there at the time of the crash. The sheriff’s office previously said he was a PCSO deputy until 2015, when he was arrested for falsifying his time card.<\/p>\n

What we know:<\/p>\n

Roelofs has been in jail since a judge revoked his bond and he was arrested in Colombia.\u00a0<\/p>\n

MORE: Judge sets trial date for former Florida deputy who skipped DUI manslaughter trial<\/a><\/p>\n

Jury selection in his trial began on Monday, and a jury was seated Monday afternoon. Opening statements in the trial are expected to begin on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n

According to the 13th\u00a0Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office, Roelofs could face 100 years in prison if he’s convicted.<\/p>\n

The Source: The information in this story includes details on jury selection ahead of the trial for Joshua Roelofs and previous FOX 13 News reports.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tampa<\/a>Crime and Public Safety<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla. – Jury selection began on Monday in the trial for a former Polk County deputy charged…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":142931,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[630,47,629,115,135,137,136,628],"class_list":["post-142930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-crime-publicsafety","tag-fl","tag-hillsborough","tag-news","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142930"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142930\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}