DUI hit and run leads to arrest of driver with notorious past
PINELLAS - A man who was arrested in connection with a drunk-driving hit-and-run on Tuesday morning is no stranger to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.
Shawn Ledesma, 32, was pulled over around midnight on July 15 after a woman's vehicle was struck from behind by his vehicle while she was traveling north on U.S. Highway 19. As she slowed to pull over, the F-150 pickup truck kept going, according to authorities.
What we know:
The victim called 911, and a Largo Police Officer spotted the suspect's vehicle still on US Hwy 19 and made a traffic stop.
The gray Ford F-150 showed signs of having been involved in an accident. When officer Anthony Gardner approached the driver, he noticed numerous signs of impairment which he wrote in the arrest affidavit. The driver submitted a breath test which was recorded in the affidavit as 0.382 / 0.366 which is more than four times the 0.08 limit.
That driver, Ledesma, was arrested and charged with leaving the scene of an accident with property damage and with driving under the influence.
But this is not Ledesma’s first time being arrested for a dangerous driving incident.
Courtesy: Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.
The backstory:
It was September 2007 when Shawn Ledesma’s driving first made news. He was just 15-years-old and only had a Florida learner’s permit.
The State of Florida guidelines, according to the Department of Motor Vehicles, for that permit require a licensed adult to be with the learning driver at all times when they are behind the wheel. That learning driver is restricted to daytime hours up until 10 p.m.
On the evening of September 15, 2007, Ledesma convinced his mother, Lesa, to let him use their Saturn Ion to drive alone.
That night turned tragic as Ledesma took several friends with him and wrecked the vehicle while trying to catch up to a friend’s pickup truck.
The Florida Highway Patrol accident report detailed how Ledesma lost control of the vehicle while overtaking his friend. The Saturn Ion struck the pickup truck and spun out of control before striking an oak tree.
A passenger in Ledesma’s car, Raquel Carreras, was ejected and killed in the accident.
Over the next few months, the accident investigation led law enforcement to charge Shawn Ledesma with vehicular homicide in December 2007.
Then, in March 2008, Lesa Ledesma was arrested and charged with second-degree manslaughter for giving the car keys to her son.
Courtesy: Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.
Dig deeper:
In the 2007 case, court records show that Shawn Ledesma’s driver’s license was revoked for 5 years. He was ordered to pay court costs and restitution to Michelle Carreras, Raquel’s mother.
His sentence included mandatory driver’s school, community service, 6 years of probation and 4 years of community control as well as other court costs and fines.
In the years following the case, his efforts for early termination of the probation and community control were denied by the court once in 2013 before the final termination of his case and supervision in 2015.
Lesa Ledesma was sentenced to 30 days in jail, which she served, 120 hours of community service, five years of probation, two years of community control, court costs and fines in addition to restitution to be paid to Michelle Carreras. She was granted early termination of her probation in 2013.
What's next:
As a condition of his bond on these most recent charges, Shawn Ledesma was required to be outfitted with a continuous alcohol monitor in addition to posting $20,000 bond.
The Source: This story includes details from the 2025 arrest affidavit from the City of Largo Police, the Pinellas County Court records for both Shawn and Lesa Ledesma and the WTVT archives of the story from 2007 when Raquel Carreras was killed.