_{Photo: Gustavo Cardenas, charged}

by Charles Gladden

ORANGE WALK, Tues. Oct. 7, 2024

Gustavo Cardenas, 53, a Belizean businessman/farmer of Douglas Village, Orange Walk District, has been charged for multiple traffic offenses after being involved in a traffic collision that caused the death of a teenage boy.

On Sunday, October 6, sometime after 8:00 p.m., Cardenas was driving a Ford Explorer when, at the junction of the Philip Goldson Highway and the San Roman/Rio Hondo Road, his vehicle hit 19-year-old Kristian Baeza of Orange Walk Town, who was riding a motorcycle. As a result of the collision, Baeza suffered multiple injuries, including a broken left leg, facial injuries, and severe scrapes and bruises.

Cardenas’ Ford Explorer, which was significantly damaged on its front right side, was found 900 feet away in nearby bushes at the San Roman/Rio Hondo Road entrance. Baeza was transported to the Northern Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

When police arrived at the scene, they discovered that the Ford Explorer carried valid insurance until February 2025; however, Cardenas’ driver’s license had expired in August 2024. Cardenas was later detained and taken to the Northern Regional Hospital, but refused to provide a blood sample when requested to do so.

He was later charged with 2 counts of causing death by careless conduct and manslaughter by negligence; as well as driving an unlicensed motor vehicle, driving a motor vehicle without due care and attention, driving a motor vehicle whilst under the influence of drinks or drugs; failing to provide a specimen; and driving a motor vehicle without a valid driver’s license.

This isn’t the first time that Cardenas has caused loss of life in a road traffic accident. In 2003, he was involved in a head-to-head collision that resulted in the death of two men, and just as he did after this most recent accident, he refused to provide a specimen when asked to do so by police.