ST. CLOUD, Fla. — Two men were killed and another was seriously injured Thursday morning when their pickup truck was T-boned by a tractor-trailer in Osceola County, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
The pickup driver, William Johnson, 31, of St. Cloud, and a passenger in the truck, Andrew Jones, 29, of Kissimmee, were killed in the crash.
A third passenger, Brenden Sombelon, 19, of St. Cloud was hospitalized in serious condition.
“First time I've ever seen an accident like this in my life,” said resident Jessie Bolanty. “I just saw that this truck was out here, and all my friends rushed over to the truck and what not to see if everybody was OK. My friend was banging on the windshield trying to get people out of the car.”
FHP said the pickup was traveling north on Alligator Lake Shore Drive and tried to make an illegal left from a stop sign at U.S. 192.
The pickup pulled directly into the path of a tractor-trailer driven by Jimmy Copeland, 48, of Lakeland, the crash report said.
The tractor-trailer smashed into the side of the truck, killing Johnson and Jones.
Because of the severity of the crash, it was not known if any of the men were wearing seat belts, an FHP crash report said.
"All we could see was the truck inside the semi truck, like, we saw the engine inside the passenger seat of the (truck)," Bolanty said.
FHP said Johnson and his passengers had left a bar before the crash.
Troopers said they are working to determine if alcohol was a factor in the crash.
Copeland was not injured in the crash.
FHP said the crash remains under investigation.
Cox Media Group
