blog home Drunk Driver Accidents Trooper Involved in Rear-End Car Accident in Orlando

Trooper Involved in Rear-End Car Accident in Orlando

By Orlando Personal Injury Attorney on October 12, 2017

Early this past Tuesday morning on October 10th at approximately 2:45 a.m., a Florida Highway Patrol trooper sustained minor injuries when he was involved in rear-end collision near Highway 408 in Orlando, after a drunk driver slammed into the back of his police cruiser.

Trooper Tarik Dalhy, 32, was on-duty and was parked on an eastbound stretch of highway in a marked-off construction zone with his police lights lit up, warning drivers of the upcoming road closure. It was at this time that Jetzel Jadiel Ortiz Freytes, 25, “drove through the reflective traffic cones and collided with the rear of the patrol car,” according to an eyewitness statement given to police at the time of the accident. The impact of the crash was so forceful that it jammed Officer Dalhy’s driver’s side door shut, causing him to have to kick it open in order to exit the vehicle. He suffered a bruised lung in the incident, and was transported by emergency medical personnel to a local hospital, as reported by Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Kim Montes. “He was protecting the construction workers who are improving our roadways. We are just glad he (the driver) didn’t hit anyone else,” she said.

Once the authorities arrived on the scene, they administered a field sobriety test to Ortiz-Freytes, which he failed, registering a .120 BAC. The legal limit in Florida is .08. He did, however, admit to officers that he had been drinking at the time of the accident. He was arrested and charged with damaging property and first degree driving under the influence while causing injury. He is currently residing at the Orange County Corrections Facility, where he awaits his court date later this month.

Thankfully, the trooper’s injuries in this accident were minor, and he has since been released from the hospital.

For over thirty-five years, Orlando drunk driver accident attorney James O. Cunningham has been representing victims and families of rear-end collisions. If you have been involved in an accident, please do not hesitate to contact us at 877-FL-INJURY.

James O. Cunningham

James O. Cunningham Since 1977, personal injury lawyer James Cunningham has provided effective legal advocacy to people who are injured through the negligent actions of another person or entity throughout the Central Florida area. He fights to obtain recoveries for his clients’ physical and emotional pain and suffering and pursues his clients’ personal injury cases with a commitment to excellence and impeccable preparation.