Car split in pieces on I-4 after driver fleeing cops at 130 mph hits semis
The Florida Highway Patrol closed several lanes on Interstate 4 in Polk County for about eight hours after the driver of a Toyota Camry crashed into two semis while trying to evade troopers late Thursday night.
Just before midnight, a trooper spotted the Toyota headed west on I-4 near the State Road 33 exit and clocked it at 102 mph, according to a news release from the law enforcement agency.
When the trooper tried to stop the car, the driver sped up to 130 mph. Troopers pursued the Toyota for about 8 miles before it veered into a construction zone and struck two semi-trailer trucks near the Polk Parkway West exit.
The car “separated into several pieces” on impact, the release states. The two men inside, a 37-year old from Tampa and a 30-year-old from Port Charlotte, were ejected to the shoulder of the highway and suffered serious injuries. It’s unclear who was driving, according to the highway patrol.
Troopers, who found nearly $5,000 and several pounds of marijuana inside the Toyota, are still investigating the incident.
Torn pieces of the Toyota struck a Subaru Outback as it passed through the crash area. Its driver, a 43-year-old Lakeland woman, suffered minor injuries, authorities said. The drivers of two semi-trailer trucks were not seriously injured either.
Three westbound lanes were already closed due to roadway construction Thursday night, an agency spokesperson said. The crash closed the left lane of I-4, but all lanes reopened Friday at about 7:30 a.m.
