POLK COUNTY, Fla. – A 12-year-old Plant City boy was killed and another boy, 14, was injured after a DUI crash in Mulberry just after midnight on Sunday morning.
According to investigators, Andres Orozco, 42, was towing a trailer with a pickup truck south along Coronet Road with two children in his vehicle.
Mario Martinez was traveling west on State Road 60 in the outside lane when detectives said Orozco pulled out in front of Martinez, who had the right-of-way.
On Impact, Andres Orozco, 14, and Joel Orozco, 12, were ejected from the truck, and Martinez’s vehicle caught fire. Bystanders pulled the second child from Orozco’s truck.
According to Polk County Sheriff’s Office, first responders arrived on the scene at the corner of State Road 60 and Coronet Road, they found Joel Orozco, 12, unresponsive in the highway median.
Joel Orozco was airlifted to St. Joseph Hospital in Tampa where he died from injuries sustained in the crash.
Andres Orozco was transported to Lakeland Regional Health for a broken collar bone, and was treated and released.
The driver, Andres Orozco, 42, was transported to Lakeland Regional Health with a broken neck and leg, and is in critical but stable condition.
The driver of the second vehicle, 30-year-old Mario Martinez, was treated at Lakeland Regional Health for a broken leg. He was released then arrested and transported to the Polk County Jail on DUI Manslaughter charges.
Deputies said none of the occupants in Orozco’s pickup truck were wearing seatbelts.
The crash remains under investigation.
