Man accused of 2023 hit-and-run fatality arrested
A year ago, Nathan Manypenny was riding a bicycle on County Road 200A (Northeast Jacksonville Road) when he was hit by a vehicle. He later died at a local hospital.
Florida Highway Patrol troopers investigated and identified the driver they believe was behind the wheel of the April 5, 2023 crash.
In February, troopers got a break when the suspected driver, Maynor Orfilio Escobar-Hernandez, was detained. On Thursday, Escobar-Hernandez was brought to the Marion County Jail. He has been charged with hit and run fail to stop/remain at crash involving death, and drive while license suspended/death serious injury.
The 31-year-old man is being held without bail.
Shortly before 8:30 p.m. on April 5, 2023, Manypenny was riding a bicycle west across Northeast Jacksonville Road. An older model Chevrolet Suburban was traveling south on Jacksonville Road, in the area of Northeast 31st Street, according to FHP.
The SUV hit the bicycle at the intersection, troopers said. Manypenny was taken to HCA Florida Ocala Hospital, where he was pronounced deceased.
Cpl. Mark Baker, a traffic homicide investigator with the FHP, investigated the crash. From his investigation, he was able to link Escobar-Hernandez to the fatality.
In 2023, troopers said, their agency investigated four hit-and-run deaths in Marion County. The year before there were six, FHP officials said. To date, there have been three hit-and-run fatalities in 2024. The numbers do not include figures from the cities of Ocala, Belleview or Dunnellon.
About Nathan Manypenny
In a previous interview with the Star Banner, Manypenny's family said the 38-year-old Ocala man was a welder and a mechanic who loved reading and learning new things.
Manypenny also loved the outdoors, camping, swimming and making people laugh, his family said. He was on his way home when he was hit and killed. He lived less than a mile from where he was hit.
The victim was born in Gainesville and raised in Ocala. The family said Manypenny was a father to two boys and a girl.
A gofundme account was created to help the family with Manypenny's funeral expenses.
How Escobar-Hernandez was captured
Escobar-Hernandez has had a past run-in with FHP troopers.
In 2018, court records show, he was stopped by a trooper on Northeast Jacksonville Road for having illegal lights. Escobar-Hernandez gave the trooper a Honduras passport for his identification. The trooper noted in his report that Escobar-Hernandez was never issued a driver's license.
Given a citation for the lights, Escobar-Hernandez was arrested for not having having a valid driver's license. Records show he was adjudicated guilty.
In the hit-and-run fatality, troopers said they were notified by boarder patrol agents in February that Escobar-Hernandez had been detained by them when he tried crossing the boarder from Mexico into the United States from Texas. Agents told FHP officials that the entry was illegal after his asylum claim was rejected.
Decision: Probation, suspended license for man, 78, charged in 2023 hit-and-run fatality
Confirming Escobar-Hernandez had a warrant for his arrest for the April 5, 2023 hit-and-run traffic death, he was transferred to Marion County to face the charges.
Contact Austin L. Miller at [email protected]
This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Man taken into custody charged with 2023 hit-and-run fatality