Sunday, March 22, 2015

TANKER TRUCK REAR-ENDS PICKUP TRUCK, KILLING 2 PASSENGERS ON I-75 IN FLORIDA; 2 INJURED




MARCH 22, 2015

COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA

An early morning crash on I-75 near State Road 93 in Collier County, killed two passengers in a 2003 Toyota Tacoma after the Florida Highway Patrol says it was rear-ended by a tanker truck.

They say the vehicles were traveling east in Alligator Alley about 4:00 a.m. Sunday when the tanker hit the pickup hauling a utility trailer.

The impact sent the trailer and pickup off the road and into a guardrail and ended upside down on the grass shoulder. The tanker hit a short bridge wall, according to FHP, with the truck portion on top of the bridge wall.

Robert Catinella, 55 of Coral Springs, drove the tanker and suffered minor injuries.

Jian Chen of Miramar, the pickup driver, was treated at the Naples Community Hospital for minor injuries. His passengers' identities are not being released until their families are contacted.

Alcohol was not a factor with either vehicle's driver and all were wearing seat restraints.

Charges against the tanker truck driver are pending.