Credit: Florida Highway Patrol
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. - An Uber driver and one of his passengers are dead after a wrong-way driver crashed into their vehicle overnight while fleeing law enforcement in a stolen Ford Mustang, troopers said.
The Florida Highway Patrol said it happened shortly before 11 p.m. on the Skyway Bridge.
Troopers arrested Leosvany Arias Roman on charges of felony murder, vehicular homicide, aggravated fleeing and eluding involving death, driving while license suspended involving death and battery on a law enforcement officer, FHP said in a news release.
The incident initially began after Hillsborough County deputies tried to stop the 22-year-old Hialeah man, who was reportedly driving a stolen Ford Mustang. He reportedly rammed into the deputy's patrol vehicle before speeding off on I-275 South.
Roman ended up on the Skyway Bridge where an FHP trooper attempted to stop the Mustang.
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It was then that the driver reportedly collided with the FHP vehicle, and then turned around and rammed the FHP vehicle before speeding off in the wrong direction on I-275, troopers said.
Near a rest area of the interstate, the Mustang reportedly crashed head-on into a Dodge Caravan with four occupants.
The Caravan's driver, identified as a 33-year-old Bradenton man who was operating as an Uber driver at the time, was killed along with a passenger, a 52-year-old man.
Credit: Florida Highway Patrol
The other two passengers – a 24-year-old man and a 51-year-old woman – were taken to a local hospital with serious injuries. The passengers were all from Columbiana, Ohio, troopers said.
Credit: Florida Highway Patrol
The FHP trooper the Mustang rammed into – a 27-year-old who has been with FHP for two years – was taken to a hospital with minor injuries.
Credit: Florida Highway Patrol
The deadly incident shut down the southbound lanes of I-275 for several hours.
The lanes ultimately reopened at around 6:40 a.m. Thursday.