Florida Highway Patrol troopers were searching Monday morning for the driver of a dark-colored Ford Mustang after a deadly crash on I-75 in Manatee County. The Mustang hit a Chevy Trailblazer just south of State Road 64, setting off a chain collision that left a semi tractor-trailer overturned and its driver dead at the scene.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the Mustang was traveling southbound in the left lane when it moved into the middle lane and collided with the Trailblazer, which was driven by a 63-year-old man. The impact pushed the SUV into the right lane and into the path of a semi tractor-trailer driven by a 34-year-old man from New Smyrna.
The semi was redirected across all southbound lanes, overturned onto its right side and came to rest partially in the grass median and across all three southbound lanes of I-75. The Trailblazer driver reportedly suffered minor injuries. The Mustang driver stopped briefly after the crashes and then took off southbound on I-75.
Troopers described the Mustang as black with rear louvers and possibly a stick camera on the rear. They also said the driver was reportedly a man wearing a grey hoodie and described as stocky. Ken Watson said the Mustang was weaving in and out of traffic and caused the crash that sideswiped the SUV, and said the vehicle was high profile, carried a full load and could not stop on a dime early in the morning. Watson also said the dark-colored Mustang stopped for a moment and then immediately fled the scene in a southern direction, and urged drivers to leave early, drive safely and not change lanes abruptly.
The fatal crash left one man dead and another with minor injuries, and it also left troopers trying to track down the Mustang driver after the scene had already been cleared. The report said the information came from a Florida Highway Patrol press release, and anyone with information was asked to contact the Florida Highway Patrol at *347, or Crime Stoppers.
The question now is not what happened on I-75. It is whether the driver who fled will be found before investigators piece together every second of the crash.
