DeBary Man Arrested After Hit-and-Run Crash on Interstate 4

By Orlando Personal Injury Attorney on April 28, 2023

Authorities in Seminole County have taken a 38-year-old man into custody for his alleged connection to a severe hit-and-run accident that seriously injured one individual yesterday morning along Interstate 4 near Altamonte Springs.

According to early reports from the Florida Highway Patrol, it was a few minutes after 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, April 27, 2023, when 38-year-old DeBary resident Antoine T. Burnett was driving a 2019 Dodge Ram in the eastbound direction of the I-4 express lanes. Troopers indicate that as the pickup truck approached the vicinity of mile marker 92 by East Central Parkway, the driver purportedly performed an illegal lane change which positioned his vehicle directly in front of a 27-year-old Haines City man driving a 2015 Ford Transit Van. For reasons that are currently unknown, the driver of the Dodge Ram then started to “slow down excessively,” causing the van’s driver to swerve in order to avoid a collision. He was unable to do so and his vehicle rear-ended the pickup truck.

The impact from the first accident was so forceful that it propelled the transit van into the path of a 39-year-old man from Orlando who was driving a 2017 Nissan Rogue in the same direction. These two vehicles were also involved in a rear-end collision and the Nissan Rogue rolled over several times as a result. The van finally came to a complete stop when it crashed into a concrete safety barrier along the shoulder of the road.

The driver of the Dodge Ram, 38-year-old Antoine T. Burnett fled the scene of the three-vehicle accident, but was apprehended a few miles down the road by a deputy with the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office. He was arrested and taken to Seminole County Jail where he faces several charges, including reckless driving causing serious bodily injury, failure to stop or remain at a crash involving serious bodily injury, and leaving the scene of a crash involving property damage.

The 39-year-old Orlando man sustained severe injuries during the collision and was taken to South Seminole Hospital for treatment.

The 27-year-old Haines City man received minor injuries.

This case is currently under investigation. No further details have been released at this time.

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.