Wauchula - Thursday August 10, 2023: A person of interest in the death of a Palm Beach Gardens Lyft driver whose body was found in Okeechobee County is now back in Florida after being extradited from North Carolina.
Mathew Scott Flores arrived back in Florida Tuesday afternoon in the custody of Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents.
The 36-year-old Flores had been in the Rutherford County North Carolina jail since February after he crashed a car during a police chase that was owned by Lyft driver Gary Levin. Levin was last seen alive on January 30th and his decomposed body was found February 4th in a wooded area near State Road 70 and Northeast 40th Avenue in Okeechobee.
However the initial charges Flores is now facing stem from a separate incident that happened in Hardee County on January 24th of this year.
A man was shoot and killed in the 300 block of Ohio Avenue in the town of Wauchula. According to a news release from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), Flores fled the scene of that shooting. Wauchula PD learned that he was on his way to Hendersonville, North Carolina and they contacted FDLE to help find him.
FDLE tracked him down in Rutherford County North Carolina and brought him back to the Hardee County jail where he was booked on charges of first-degree murder, grand theft, tampering with physical evidence and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, all related to the fatal Wauchula shooting in January.
Flores has not yet been charged in connection with the death of Lyft driver Levin. That investigation is ongoing.
Special Agent in Charge Eli Lawson said, “Residents of Florida should not have to worry about violent criminals like Flores living freely. Our agents in the FDLE Sebring Field Office and officers at Wauchula Police Department have worked tirelessly to make sure Flores faces the consequences of his actions. All of Florida can sleep soundly knowing this man is behind bars.”
Wauchula Police Department Chief Brandon Ball said, “We are ecstatic to have this accused violent offender back in Hardee County and the 10th Judicial Circuit where he will be held accountable for his actions. This offender is now exactly where he belongs, in Hardee County, being held accountable for his violent, unlawful actions. We will continue to pray for the family of the victim in this case.”