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.