A three-vehicle crash snarled traffic on Interstate 75 in Marion County early Tuesday morning.
The 7:27 a.m. incident took place in the northbound lanes near Mile Marker 344 when a 2017 Ford F-550 truck driven by 30-year-old Kevin Joseph Murphy collided with a trailer being pulled behind 63-year-old Fernando Vargas Castaneda’s 2014 Ford F-250 pickup. Castaneda, of Bartow, was slowing down because of an earlier crash when he was hit by Murphy, of Inverness, a Florida Highway Patrol report states.
The impact of the crash uncoupled Castaneda’s trailer and caused it to collide with his vehicle. He then veered left and was hit by a 2000 Ford Mustang driven by 43-year-old Kevin Williams Fortune, of Ocala. Fortune swerved into the median safety lane and the left side of his car then collided with the median guardrail, the report says.
Murphy’s truck and the trailer Castaneda was pulling spun and came to rest facing southwest, obstructing traffic in the inside and center lanes. Castaneda’s pickup came to a stop in the inside lane facing north, while Fortune’s Mustang stopped in the median safety lane facing north.
All three drivers escaped injury in the crash, as did 15-year-old Jessica Rose Wilson, of Ocala, a passenger in Fortune’s vehicle, and 41-year-old Miguel Urizar Cabrera, of Tampa, a passenger in Castaneda’s pickup.
Two other passengers in Castaneda’s vehicle, 33-year-old Marcos Santiago Barriga, of Tonasket, Wash., and 58-year-old Juan Gonzalez, of Plant City, suffered minor injuries.
The northbound lanes of I-75 at the crash site remained blocked until 9:50 a.m. Murphy was cited for careless driving, FHP investigators reported, adding that alcohol was not a factor in the crash.
