FHP says drunk driver slammed into trooper's car

ORLANDO, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - A trooper’s patrol car is totaled -- the frame bent and the rear is now crunched like an accordion.  The Florida Highway Patrol's Sgt. Kim Montes says a drunk driver is to blame.  

“We believe he got struck about 45 mph. He never applied the brakes,” said Sgt. Montes.

Investigators say early Tuesday morning the trooper was sitting in his cruiser with his red and blue lights flashing, keeping at watchful eye over a stretch of State Road 408, between Crystal Lake Drive and Conway Road, as crews resurfaced the road behind him.  

“Unfortunately, another eastbound dodge driving drove through the closed lane over the cones and into the closed lanes and struck the back of trooper Dahli’s vehicle,” said Sgt. Montes. 

She says that let the trooper trapped in his vehicle, having to kick his way out. 

“The trooper is very luckily it didn’t impact the gas tank. Being stuck in the car it could have been a lot worse.”

According to his arrest affidavit, 25-year-old Jetzel Ortiz Freytes told the arresting trooper, “I’m not going to lie, I have been drinking.”   The trooper is now recovering from a bruised lung, along with neck and back pain.  

“Had the trooper not been there, there easily could have been a construction worker that was struck. Unfortunately, that’s why these troopers are up in these active construction zones, because of this exact reason."

Freytes is now out of jail on a $1,000 bond.