Wrong-way driver crawls from truck and runs away after crash kills 3, Florida cops say

A wrong-way driver crawled out of his pickup truck and ran into the woods after he was involved in a crash that killed three people and seriously injured his passenger, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

The driver, who authorities have not publicly identified, was driving a Toyota Tacoma westbound in an eastbound lane on a highway in DeLand when his vehicle collided with an Infiniti Q50 at around 2:20 a.m. on Dec. 11, according to a report from the Florida Highway Patrol.

The Infiniti Q50 went into the center median and three passengers were killed, the report says.

The Toyota Tacoma came to a stop in the eastbound lanes of the highway, where it was struck by another vehicle. A fourth vehicle crashed into debris left by the crash. Both drivers suffered minor injuries, according to the report.

The driver of the Toyota Tacoma “crawled” out of the vehicle and ran into the nearby woods, leaving the passenger, who was seriously injured, behind, Lt. Channing Taylor of the Florida Highway Patrol told McClatchy News.

The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene and used K-9s to search the surrounding area for the driver but did not find him, Taylor said.

Based on interviews with the passenger of the Toyota Tacoma and another driver involved in the crash, authorities have identified a person of interest, Taylor said. The person could face charges including three counts of leaving the scene involving a death and two counts of leaving the scene of serious bodily injury, he said.

Authorities are still investigating the crash. Florida Highway Patrol did not publicly identify the three people who died.

DeLand is about 40 miles north of Orlando.

This story was originally published December 13, 2022 at 9:08 AM with the headline "Wrong-way driver crawls from truck and runs away after crash kills 3, Florida cops say."