ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A fatal crash has caused the westbound lanes of I-4 at Kirkman Road in Orange County to shut down Tuesday, but the roadway has since reopened, said the Florida Highway Patrol.
A Honda van was traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes of I-4 near Sand Lake Road at about 3:30 a.m. and crashed head-on into a Diamond taxi, authorities said.
Fernando Clemente II, 44, of Orlando and taxi driver Harold Fabre, 39, of Orlando were killed, FHP said.
FHP said they found a bottle of Hennessy cognac in the van.
“We actually did receive one phone call about a wrong-way driver, but within seconds, a crash occurred as a van struck a westbound taxi cab just driving in the left lane. When troopers got on scene, we did locate a bottle of Hennessey in the van driver's front right seat,” FHP Sgt. Kim Montes said. "We do suspect impairment played a role in that driver going the wrong way. We'll wait for toxicology, but that's typically one of the biggest reasons people drive the wrong way."
Investigators believe Fabre, a husband and father of one, was sober and not at fault in the incident.
Clemente had four different suspensions on his license. One was given after he was convicted of trafficking in methamphetamine.
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