An Orange County Sheriff’s Office deputy was involved in a fatal crash on Florida’s Turnpike that left one man dead on Thursday evening.
The accident occurred at around 7:05 p.m. on Thursday, January 2, near mile marker 250 on Florida’s Turnpike in Osceola County, according to a report from the Florida Highway Patrol.
The report states that a marked OCSO Ford F-150 pickup truck was traveling northbound on the Turnpike, north of Osceola Parkway, in the inside lane when the patrol vehicle experienced an unspecified mechanical issue.
The driver, identified as a 31-year-old OCSO deputy from Orlando, lost control of the pickup truck. As a result, the vehicle rotated counterclockwise before coming to a stop while facing south in the inside lane.
A second vehicle – a 2014 Subaru BRZ sports car – was also traveling northbound on the Turnpike in the inside lane, and its left front section proceeded to strike the front left of the disabled pickup truck.
The car’s driver and sole occupant, identified in the report as a 37-year-old St. Cloud man, was transported to HCA Florida Osceola Hospital, where he was pronounced deceased. A trooper noted in the report that the man was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.
The OCSO deputy involved in the two-vehicle collision was also taken to the same hospital for treatment of minor injuries.
The crash remains under investigation, according to FHP.