ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — One deputy was hurt and two sheriff’s patrol vehicles were damaged in separate crashes on State Road 417 late Monday.
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The Florida Highway Patrol said shortly before midnight, an Orange County sheriff’s deputy was assisting construction workers along SR-417 near Landstar Boulevard.
Troopers said the deputy was sitting inside a marked patrol car that was stopped along the inside lane of SR-417 with its emergency lights activated.
The driver of a Chevy Silverado traveling north, also on the inside lane of the toll road, failed to stop behind the deputy and rear-ended the patrol car, according to FHP.
The driver, a 47-year-old Orlando man, wasn’t hurt; the deputy was transported to Dr. Phillips Hospital with minor injuries, investigators said.
A second crash occurred in the same stretch of SR-417 just minutes later.
Troopers said following the initial collision, a fellow Orange County sheriff’s deputy responded to the crash location to assist.
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That deputy also parked on the inside lane of SR-417 with emergency lights activated.
After the deputy exited the patrol car to walk toward the crash, a Dodge Caravan heading northbound failed to stop behind the parked patrol car, investigators said.
That’s when a second rear-end collision happened.
The Caravan’s driver, 19, of Winter Park suffered non-life-threatening injuries, FHP said.
The deputy, who was outside the marked car, wasn’t hurt.
Both crashes remain under investigation.
Troopers shut down the northbound lanes of SR-417 for several hours but cleared the wreckage in time for Tuesday morning’s travel rush.
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