News Man
06-12-2008, 08:51 PM
SANFORD, Fla. --
Five people were killed after a pickup truck slammed into a freight train.
Authorities said they were attempting to pull over the driver of a Chevrolet Avalanche on Tuesday, but the driver fled and wasn't spotted again until Wednesday morning.
Police in Sanford asked for assistance from the Seminole County Sheriff's Office. Deputies said they used a helicopter to capture video of the vehicle speeding down several roads at speeds approaching 74 mph before hitting the stopped train.
Investigators said a deputy was near the railroad crossing and used stopsticks to slow it down, and just seconds later, the driver hit the crossing gates and five people died.
Authorities with the Sheriff's Office said they were keeping a safe distance from the pickup truck at the time of the crash.
"It did not meet the criteria for a vehicle pursuit. A pursuit is the continued attempt to apprehend a vehicle," Seminole County Sheriff's Office spokesman Lt. Don Rufo said.
"I had just seen a truck passing by real fast, and right behind the truck were five officers in cars chasing right behind the truck. They were going so fast, chasing the truck, the truck almost flipped at the corner turning," witness Shayla Wright said.
The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating the crash. The vehicle was being sought because of a traffic violation.
The sheriff's department said they did everything they could to make the truck pull over, but they did not chase it. They said this tragedy was not the result of a pursuit.
"We are 100 percent confident that the deputies' actions, the law enforcement officer’s actions on scene, the video will speak for itself," Seminole County Lt. Dennis Lemma said. "There are several blocks of radius of this video from the air and it’s clear that there’s no other vehicle in the video other than the suspect's vehicle at the time. You can hear the supervisor on the ground clearly telling all the units to disengage, to travel the opposite way."
It has been confirmed that a crack pipe and other drug paraphernalia was discovered inside the truck after the crash.
The driver has been identified as Jason James Fitzgerald, 22, of Longwood.
All four of the victims were identified by authorities as William Richardson, 54, of Sanford, Jeffrey Daniels, 48, of Longwood and Mary Reil, 17, of Sanford and Anthony A. Ortiz, 50, of Sanford.
Families of the five killed in the Sanford crash are in shock and mourning.
Family members of William "Buddy" Richardson, 54, are in shock over this sudden loss.
Richardson was a passenger in the Chevrolet Avalanche that slammed at more than 70 mph into a stopped train in Sanford Tuesday night.
"Everybody's pretty upset shaken up,” Richardson’s brother-in-law Scott Hill said. “It's a hard thing to deal with."
Hill said police told the family late Tuesday night.
"It’s hard. It’s a hard thing to deal with. It’s my mother-in-law’s youngest child. It’s a hard thing to deal with," Hill said.
Investigators showed them the police video of the crash to prove the truck Richardson was riding in was not being chased.
"Hard, hard to watch, it's just a hard thing to see," said Hill. "All they showed was the truck running into the train and that was it, and that was all we wanted to see. I mean we watched that and that was it."
The family said they do not know any of the people that Richardson was riding with last night in that truck.
"We all got questions but we don’t know if they'll get answered," Hill said. "We don't know what happened, we just don't know."
The family stressed again they just want to know exactly what happened.
In the meantime, they're planning a funeral.
Five people were killed after a pickup truck slammed into a freight train.
Authorities said they were attempting to pull over the driver of a Chevrolet Avalanche on Tuesday, but the driver fled and wasn't spotted again until Wednesday morning.
Police in Sanford asked for assistance from the Seminole County Sheriff's Office. Deputies said they used a helicopter to capture video of the vehicle speeding down several roads at speeds approaching 74 mph before hitting the stopped train.
Investigators said a deputy was near the railroad crossing and used stopsticks to slow it down, and just seconds later, the driver hit the crossing gates and five people died.
Authorities with the Sheriff's Office said they were keeping a safe distance from the pickup truck at the time of the crash.
"It did not meet the criteria for a vehicle pursuit. A pursuit is the continued attempt to apprehend a vehicle," Seminole County Sheriff's Office spokesman Lt. Don Rufo said.
"I had just seen a truck passing by real fast, and right behind the truck were five officers in cars chasing right behind the truck. They were going so fast, chasing the truck, the truck almost flipped at the corner turning," witness Shayla Wright said.
The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating the crash. The vehicle was being sought because of a traffic violation.
The sheriff's department said they did everything they could to make the truck pull over, but they did not chase it. They said this tragedy was not the result of a pursuit.
"We are 100 percent confident that the deputies' actions, the law enforcement officer’s actions on scene, the video will speak for itself," Seminole County Lt. Dennis Lemma said. "There are several blocks of radius of this video from the air and it’s clear that there’s no other vehicle in the video other than the suspect's vehicle at the time. You can hear the supervisor on the ground clearly telling all the units to disengage, to travel the opposite way."
It has been confirmed that a crack pipe and other drug paraphernalia was discovered inside the truck after the crash.
The driver has been identified as Jason James Fitzgerald, 22, of Longwood.
All four of the victims were identified by authorities as William Richardson, 54, of Sanford, Jeffrey Daniels, 48, of Longwood and Mary Reil, 17, of Sanford and Anthony A. Ortiz, 50, of Sanford.
Families of the five killed in the Sanford crash are in shock and mourning.
Family members of William "Buddy" Richardson, 54, are in shock over this sudden loss.
Richardson was a passenger in the Chevrolet Avalanche that slammed at more than 70 mph into a stopped train in Sanford Tuesday night.
"Everybody's pretty upset shaken up,” Richardson’s brother-in-law Scott Hill said. “It's a hard thing to deal with."
Hill said police told the family late Tuesday night.
"It’s hard. It’s a hard thing to deal with. It’s my mother-in-law’s youngest child. It’s a hard thing to deal with," Hill said.
Investigators showed them the police video of the crash to prove the truck Richardson was riding in was not being chased.
"Hard, hard to watch, it's just a hard thing to see," said Hill. "All they showed was the truck running into the train and that was it, and that was all we wanted to see. I mean we watched that and that was it."
The family said they do not know any of the people that Richardson was riding with last night in that truck.
"We all got questions but we don’t know if they'll get answered," Hill said. "We don't know what happened, we just don't know."
The family stressed again they just want to know exactly what happened.
In the meantime, they're planning a funeral.