Wrong-way driver dies in crash on I-75 during deadly weekend, bicyclist killed

It's been a deadly weekend on Manatee County roads with one wrong-way driver killed on Interstate 75 and a fatal hit-and-run crash in which the driver fled the scene.

Wrong-way driver dies in I-75 crash, woman injured

A three-vehicle crash on Interstate 75 early Sunday morning left one man dead and 23-year-old woman critically injured.

The incident was reported at 1:52 a.m. at mile marker 233 in northern Manatee County. A 32-year-old man from Wimauma was initially traveling north on the southbound lanes of I-275. He then got onInterstate 75, and began to drive north (the wrong way) on the southbound lanes of I-75.

The 23-year-old driver of the second car was heading south on 75 in the left lane. A third car was in the center lane. The wrong-way driver collided head on with the second car and soon after the third car smashed into the back of the second car.

The wrong-way driver, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver of the second car, from Bradenton, sustained a critical injury and was flown to Tampa General Hospital. Her passenger, a 42-year-old man also from Bradenton, sustained minor injuries. The driver of the third car, a 29-year-old man from St. Cloud, Florida, had no injuries.

The crash remains under investigation.

Hit and run fatal crash on State Road 70

A 28-year-old Sarasota man has died after his bike was struck by a car Friday night on State Road 70 near Caruso Road.

At about 9 p.m., a driver was heading east on SR 70 on the inside (left) lane approaching the intersection with 60th Street East (Caruso Road).

The 28-year-old bicyclist was riding north on State Road 70, within the pedestrian crosswalk, attempting to cross the eastbound lane of SR 70 from the south shoulder. The front left of the car hit the bike. The impact threw the bicyclist from his bike.

After the collision, the driver of the red sedan fled the scene, according to an Florida Highway Patrol report. The bicyclist sustained serious injuries and was transported to Blake Hospital. He was pronounced dead on Saturday.

On Sunday, the FHP Traffic Homicide Division said it had located and impounded the suspected hit-and-run car from a home in Manatee County. The criminal investigation remains ongoing.

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