The worker had started walking to his car when police say the expelled customer turned a vehicle toward him.
TAMPA, Fla. — A nightclub security guard who had just helped remove a patron from a Tampa after-hours business was fatally struck by that patron’s vehicle minutes later, police said as they announced a murder warrant and fugitive search.
The guard was leaving the Vale nightclub with a friend after dealing with a disturbance involving Jose Zamora Valdes, 32, according to investigators. Police allege Zamora Valdes drove onto North Armenia Avenue, made an intentional turn and hit both men. The guard suffered critical injuries and later died at a hospital. His friend survived with minor injuries. The suspect’s vehicle was eventually recovered, but police said Zamora Valdes fled and was wanted on charges of murder and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
Police Chief Lee Bercaw placed the guard’s work at the center of the department’s public response. “Our hearts go out to the family and colleagues of the security guard who lost his life while simply doing his job to keep others safe,” Bercaw said. The department did not release the guard’s name in its initial homicide announcement, identifying him only as a Hispanic man in his mid-30s. That left his relatives and coworkers largely outside the public account even as police described the decisions he made during the final minutes before the collision. Investigators said he helped escort Zamora Valdes from the club after a confrontation, then walked toward his own car with a friend rather than continuing the dispute.
The friend, described by police as a Hispanic man in his early 40s, became both a surviving victim and a likely witness to the attack. Authorities said he suffered minor injuries but released no additional information about his condition. Police did not say whether he saw the vehicle approaching, whether either man had time to move or whether the driver said anything before impact. The friend’s position beside the guard could allow him to describe the vehicle’s direction and speed, but his formal account has not been released. The aggravated battery allegation against Zamora Valdes arises from the injury to that surviving man, while the murder charge is tied to the guard’s death.
The incident began inside the Vale at about 4:30 a.m. June 7. Police said Zamora Valdes became involved in an altercation with a woman he knew, leading the club’s security staff to remove him. During the ejection, he allegedly pushed the woman hard enough to make her stumble into another patron. A short verbal argument followed. Police have not said whether the woman or the other patron was hurt, whether either person wanted to pursue a separate complaint or what caused the original confrontation. They also have not identified the security workers who participated in the removal or explained whether the guard who later died had physical contact with Zamora Valdes inside the business.
After leaving the entrance area, Zamora Valdes went to his vehicle, according to investigators. The guard and his friend began walking toward the guard’s car. Police said Zamora Valdes drove north on Armenia Avenue and then made what the department called a sharp, intentional turn to strike the guard. The wording was significant because it separated the case from an ordinary crash or a driver who accidentally left the roadway. Officers first investigated the death as a fatal hit-and-run, but detectives changed the classification after gathering evidence and interviewing witnesses. The department announced June 9 that it considered the case a homicide and had secured the two-count arrest warrant.
The public account does not identify every piece of evidence behind that decision. Investigators did not release surveillance video, roadway measurements, vehicle data or eyewitness statements. They also did not say whether the club had exterior cameras covering its entrance and parking areas. Businesses along commercial corridors often have cameras aimed at doors, lots or cash-handling areas, but police have not confirmed whether any such recording exists in this case. Detectives could also compare damage to the recovered vehicle with evidence from the impact area. The department said officers had located and impounded the vehicle but withheld its description and the place where it was found.
Finding the vehicle did not end the search for its alleged driver. Tampa police assigned the case to the department’s Fugitive Apprehension Unit and received assistance from the U.S. Marshals Task Force. Those investigators work across jurisdictions when a wanted person may have moved beyond the area where an alleged crime occurred. Police did not announce a confirmed route, a new address or a location where they believed Zamora Valdes was hiding. They also did not say whether he owned the recovered vehicle, borrowed it or had access to another form of transportation after leaving it behind.
Bercaw called the alleged use of the vehicle a cowardly act and said it had no place in the community. He said local detectives and federal partners were working to ensure the wanted man would face justice. The chief’s statement reflected the department’s conclusion about intent, but a court would determine criminal responsibility only after an arrest and prosecution. The police account represents the government’s allegation at the investigative stage. No attorney speaking for Zamora Valdes was identified in the public materials, and his version of the encounter has not been made public.
The Vale is located at 7123 N. Armenia Ave., north of central Tampa. Police described it as an after-hours nightclub, a setting where workers may be managing patrons near dawn instead of during conventional evening business hours. Security employees at such venues often control entry, separate people during disputes and remove customers when managers believe a conflict could threaten others. In this case, investigators said the guard’s role in the ejection became the apparent reason he was targeted. Police have not said whether the club remained open after the collision, whether its managers were present or whether the business took additional security measures afterward.
The guard’s death also changed the legal direction of the investigation. Before he died, the facts could have supported an inquiry centered on serious bodily injury. His death made the encounter a suspected homicide, while detectives’ conclusion that the turn was intentional supported the murder allegation. Florida prosecutors would review the available evidence after an arrest and decide the exact charges to pursue. They could consider witness reliability, recordings, physical evidence and statements from the accused. The warrant itself authorizes an arrest but does not establish guilt or guarantee that prosecutors will use the same charging language throughout the case.
An arrest would begin a new phase. Zamora Valdes would appear before a judge, hear the allegations and receive information about legal counsel and detention. The state would then have to disclose evidence through the court process, allowing a defense lawyer to examine the basis for the claim that the vehicle was deliberately aimed. Questions about motive, the earlier confrontation and the interval between the ejection and collision would likely become central. No hearing schedule had been announced because police had not reported that the suspect was in custody when they released the warrant information.
For the guard’s coworkers, the criminal case began with the loss of a man who had been carrying out an ordinary part of his job. Yet many personal details remained private. Police did not publish his name, his length of employment at the Vale or information about his family. They also did not disclose whether he had finished his shift or was briefly going to his vehicle. The department’s account instead preserved the final sequence: He helped remove a disruptive patron, left with a friend, was struck and died after being taken for emergency care.
Police continued treating Zamora Valdes as a fugitive wanted for murder and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. The recovered vehicle remained in law enforcement custody, while the next public milestone depended on an arrest or a further investigative announcement.
Author note: Last updated July 11, 2026.