HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. – A chaotic chain of events on I-4 left one man dead early Friday morning following two separate collisions that involved a jackknifed semi and several parked emergency vehicles. The sequence began late Thursday night east of I-75 and ended hours later with a pedestrian fatality in the roadway.
The first accident occurred at 11:05 PM on May 7. A 19-year-old Lakeland woman driving a Kia Sorento was traveling westbound in the inside lane when she lost control of her SUV. Her vehicle swerved into the center lane, striking a westbound tractor-trailer loaded with food supplies.
The driver of the semi, a 53-year-old man from Wesley Chapel, was unable to avoid the impact. Both the Kia and the tractor-trailer veered into the center median, causing the semi-truck to overturn. Florida Highway Patrol reported that both drivers escaped this initial wreck without injuries.
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The scene remained active into the early hours of the morning as FHP troopers and FDOT-contracted Walsh trucks blocked off the inside lane for the investigation. At approximately 2:15 AM, the situation turned fatal.
A 23-year-old Tampa man driving a Toyota Corolla was traveling west when he slammed into one of the parked Walsh trucks. The force of the crash shoved the truck off the roadway and into the Lazy Days RV dealership, where it hit two parked RVs.
Following the collision, a 23-year-old passenger from the Toyota exited the car and was lying in the travel lanes with various injuries.
Shortly after, a 73-year-old Riverview man driving a Hyundai Santa Cruz struck the passenger. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the 23-year-old Tampa man suffered fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.
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