Florida Highway Patrol Searching for Hit-and-Run Suspect in Lake County
Detectives with the traffic homicide unit of the Florida Highway Patrol announced earlier today that they will begin a formal investigation into the deaths of two women who passed away after they suffered fatal injuries during a hit-and-run collision Thursday evening along State Road 46 in Lake County.
According to preliminary accident reports from the responding officers with the Florida Highway Patrol, it was shortly after 6 p.m. on the last day of September when a yet-to-be-identified male driver of a red sedan was driving in the westbound direction of State Road 46 near Wekiva Pines Boulevard and attempted to pass a succession of vehicles in front of him by positioning his car in the eastbound lane. As he performed this dangerous maneuver through the no-passing construction zone, a 22-year-old motorist from Orlando tried to avoid a collision with the sedan, but unfortunately over-corrected his steering wheel into the oncoming traffic in the westbound lane and crashed head-on into another vehicle being driven by a 56-year-old Eustis woman. After this first collision, the red passenger sedan then sideswiped the Eustis woman’s vehicle and sped away.
Multiple local Lake County emergency response teams, including officials with the Florida Highway Patrol, arrived at the scene of the deadly multi-vehicle collision within a matter of minutes and discovered that the 56-year-old woman from Eustis had already passed away from the injuries she sustained during the accident. Within the second vehicle, medical teams found the 22-year-old Orlando man and his 19-year-old female passenger, also a resident of Eustis, suffering from life-threatening injuries. Once they were both stabilized for transportation, the victims were taken to Central Florida Regional Hospital. The female teenager sadly succumbed to her injuries shortly upon arrival and her 22-year-old companion is said to be in severe condition at the time of this writing.
Witness statements retrieved from the crash site indicate that Lake County authorities should be on the lookout for a red passenger vehicle, possibly a Hyundai, with severe front-end damage and black paint transfer from the other cars involved in the fatal collision. If you believe that you have relevant information regarding this truly tragic accident, you are being asked to contact your local police department, the Florida Highway Patrol at 407-737-2213, or the state’s Crimeline at 800-423-TIPS (8477).
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.
