RIVERVIEW (FOX 13) -

UPDATE: The Florida Highway Patrol says a mechanical steering failure caused the truck to veer off the road, into the marsh 45 feet below. The driver is in stable condition at Tampa General Hospital.

*****

Emergency crews are on the scene along I-75 in Riverview, where a truck hauling a bulldozer crashed off a bridge and onto the banks of the Alafia River.

According to the sheriff’s office, the flatbed wrecker was headed south on I-75 when the driver lost control and crashed into the riverbed.

The truck came to rest in a muddy, marshy area 45 feet below the bridge and is not underwater.

Photos from the scene show skidmarks and the damaged concrete wall on the road above.

The view from SkyFOX showed the truck broken into pieces, with the cab in one spot, and a set of wheels in another spot. The bulldozer appeared overturned, stuck in muck.

The driver, 29-year-old Jeffrey Cook of St. Augustine, was rescued by a Hillsborough County deputy and an off-duty reserve firefighter. Authorities say Cook was seriously injured.

One lane of Interstate 75 southbound will be closed while crews work to remove the truck and the bulldozer. In the meantime, traffic along I-75 is

RIVERVIEW (FOX 13) -

UPDATE: The Florida Highway Patrol says a mechanical steering failure caused the truck to veer off the road, into the marsh 45 feet below. The driver is in stable condition at Tampa General Hospital.

*****

Emergency crews are on the scene along I-75 in Riverview, where a truck hauling a bulldozer crashed off a bridge and onto the banks of the Alafia River.

According to the sheriff’s office, the flatbed wrecker was headed south on I-75 when the driver lost control and crashed into the riverbed.

The truck came to rest in a muddy, marshy area 45 feet below the bridge and is not underwater.

Photos from the scene show skidmarks and the damaged concrete wall on the road above.

The view from SkyFOX showed the truck broken into pieces, with the cab in one spot, and a set of wheels in another spot. The bulldozer appeared overturned, stuck in muck.

The driver, 29-year-old Jeffrey Cook of St. Augustine, was rescued by a Hillsborough County deputy and an off-duty reserve firefighter. Authorities say Cook was seriously injured.

One lane of Interstate 75 southbound will be closed while crews work to remove the truck and the bulldozer. In the meantime, traffic along I-75 is

A Florida Highway Patrol trooper’s carelessness is what’s being blamed for a deadly wreck along I-75. Back in February, Trooper Gustavo Reyes clipped a car–causing it to flip and the woman inside to lose her unborn baby.

They say they’re not surprised at all to learn Trooper Reyes was using the laptop inside his unit just moments before the crash, but they say it does mean that the crash which killed their unborn son didn’t have to happen.

Crystal McClure was prepared to be in a hospital room yesterday, but the reason she was there was not the one she expected…

“His due date was yesterday, and I should have been in the hospital having him instead of getting my ankle fixed,” she said.

Crystal was five months pregnant when FHP says Reyes clipped the back of the family’s Jeep along southbound I-75. Crystal and her husband Chris were ejected. As a result of her injuries, she lost her unborn son Cristian.

“It’s been hard, it’s even harder now,” she said.

Crystal says that’s because she now knows the wreck could have been avoided. Crash investigators found Reyes was distracted by accessing his email and didn’t see the car in front of him

Today, Florida Highway Patrol released official documents related to the outcome of an investigation into the February 15, 2013, I-75 crash involving an unmarked police vehicle driven by Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Gustavo Reyes and a car driven by North Fort Myers resident Christopher McClure.

The report not only found Reyes had checked his email on the laptop computer in his unit just moments before the wreck, but it also shows he was traveling well above the posted speed limit.

The report says the trooper was going anywhere between 79 and 88 miles per hour. The jeep he hit was traveling closer to 60 miles per hour. It also says Reyes tried to swerve to avoid hitting the family but the front end of his unmarked charger still clipped their back bumper.

According to the report, on the night of the accident Reyes admitted to a superior that, quote, “it was all my fault, I didn’t see the other car.”

McClure and his wife, Crystal, were both injured in the accident, and, according to the report, there was no evidence they were wearing seatbelts.

Crystal lost her unborn son Cristian as a result of her injuries.

Reyes was cited for

LEE COUNTY, Fla.- The Florida Highway Patrol is blaming one of its own for a crash on I-75 last winter that seriously injured a local woman. She was pregnant at the time and lost her un-born child. The trooper will not face criminal charges.

Trooper Gustavo Reyes remains on desk duty at FHP. The report says he was distracted by a message on the computer in his patrol car, and during that distracted moment, he struck the rear of another vehicle.

Crystal McClure suffered serious injuries and her fetus was still-born at the hospital. Her son was not hurt in the rollover; her husband suffered some injuries.

Reyes told other troopers at the scene: It is my fault, I did not see the car, according to the crash report.

The state attorney’s office is not going to prosecute Reyes. He does receive a careless driving citation and must appear before a judge.

FHP is conducting a separate, administrative review of Reyes’ actions. That investigation is not done yet.

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. (AP) – Four llamas are being evaluated at a southwest Florida veterinary hospital after being involved in a crash on Interstate 75.

Charlotte County Fire-Rescue officials say a pickup truck carrying a trailer with four llamas crashed at mile marker 164, near Punta Gorda, shortly after 2:30 p.m. The truck crashed into a bridge over the Peace River.

Photos taken by fire rescue officials show 1 of the llamas strapped on a stretcher.

3 of the four llamas appeared to be uninjured. Charlotte County Animal Control is transporting the four llamas to a veterinarian to be checked. A male driver in his 20′s was injured and was taken to a hospital, where he is in stable condition.

The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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First Coast News

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ALACHULA COUNTY, Fla. — A man driving a motorcycle was killed early Saturday morning on Interstate 75. 

Dominick F. Dellaquila, 49, was traveling south on I-75 on his Harley Davidson motorcycle at a high rate of speed when he struck a truck also traveling south on I-75 around 1:30 a.m., according to Florida Highway Patrol. 

Dellaquila was ejected from his motorcycle onto the highway where he was struck by an oncoming semi-truck.

According to FHP, Dellaquila was pronounced dead at the scene. 

The outside and center southbound travel lanes were blocked for
several hours during the investigation.

There were no additional injuries, according to FHP. 

First Coast News

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First Coast News

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ALACHULA COUNTY, Fla. — A man driving a motorcycle was killed early Saturday morning on Interstate 75. 

Dominick F. Dellaquila, 49, was traveling south on I-75 on his Harley Davidson motorcycle at a high rate of speed when he struck a truck also traveling south on I-75 around 1:30 a.m., according to Florida Highway Patrol. 

Dellaquila was ejected from his motorcycle onto the highway where he was struck by an oncoming semi-truck.

According to FHP, Dellaquila was pronounced dead at the scene. 

The outside and center southbound travel lanes were blocked for
several hours during the investigation.

There were no additional injuries, according to FHP. 

First Coast News

Dead is Dominick F. Dellaquila, 49, FHP stated in a press release.

The accident occurred about 1:19 a.m. on I-75 south of Alachua. FHP reported that Dellaquila was southbound on a 2006 Harley-Davidson motorcycle behind a 2001 Ford F150 driven by Sabrina L. Mack, 44, of Gainesville.

Dellaquila approached the pickup at a rapid speed and hit the truck’s right rear, FHP said. He was thrown into the outside lane and was hit by a 2008 Volvo semi driven by Robert W. Delaney III, 63, of Okeechobee, FHP reported.

Dellaquila died at the scene. Neither Mack nor Delaney were injured.

(WBBH) – Alpacas that survived a slippery crash on Florida’s Interstate 75 are now home in Lee County.

On Monday a man transporting them flipped his truck in Charlotte County and had to get several stitches on his head.

The animals somehow stayed in their trailer and survived.

They’re pets of Lance Allen, who owns the landscaping company Club Care, Inc. in Fort Myers.

“We actually have a lot of people stop and take pictures,” said Tina Johnson, office manager for company.

She helps care for the alpacas and knows their names.

“That one is Cookie Crisp. The one with the white neck is Oreo. The big white one is Sonoma. That’s Jane,” Johnson pointed out. “She was the one that you saw the pictures of her being on a stretcher.”

Jane’s situation looked serious, but the animals’ vet said she just has a bruised hip.

Read more: http://bit.ly/ 182a56a