Tampa Bay Injury Attorney Blog
TAMPA, FL – Three men sustained minor injuries, and one life was claimed in a collision caused by an alleged impaired driver Wednesday.
WFLA said this crash happened before 7 p.m. on Mariner Boulevard between Quality Drive and County Line Road.
A Ford F-150 pickup truck driver — 38-year-old Reinier Casola Rodgriguez — had not negotiated a curve and struck the center median. His truck stopped after hitting a utility box.
The front seat passenger, who was only identified as a 34-year-old man from West Palm Beach, fell out of the truck because he did not wear a seatbelt. He was taken to a hospital, where he later died. Two other men inside the vehicle sustained minor wounds and did not need to go to a hospital.
Rodgriguez was accused of fleeing the scene of the crash and was later found by a Hernando County Sheriff’s Office K-9. He sustained minor injuries and was taken to a hospital for treatment. He had allegedly hit a nurse treating him and did not consent to a blood or breathalzyer test.
Officials then took Rodgriguez to Hernando County Jail after he was discharged from the hospital. He faces DUI manslaughter, leaving the scene of a crash involving death, driving while license suspended (involving a death), and felony battery charges.
Did you have a loved one pass away from a fatal car acccident? You and your family could pursue a wrongful death claim and recover comepnsation for losses incurred from the crash. Submit a contact form or call the law office of Whittel & Melton, LLC at 866-608-5529 for a free case review with our wrongful death lawyers.