JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Florida Highway Patrol is sharing new information with Action News Jax on a deadly wrong-way crash on I-295. We first told you yesterday when it blocked traffic near 103rd Street on the Westside for more than six hours.
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Overnight, we received a new report from FHP saying a man had stolen a green pickup truck and ended up driving south along I-295 north before hitting a motorcycle head-on. The rider of the motorcycle died after being thrown off and getting hit by the white sedan driving behind him.
Action News Jax’s Finn Carlin spoke with a woman, who asked to stay anonymous, who says saw the rider get hit by the car.
“He just started flying in the air,” she said, becoming emotional, “and he ended up underneath the tire of the white car. I literally saw their last seconds of life, it was so heartbreaking.”
The woman says she was on her way to an appointment in the Mandarin area when her GPS had taken her onto I-295 toward 103rd Street, a different way than she normally takes. She says she saw the green pickup as it drove the wrong way, leading to one of her most painful recent memories.
“It’s just awful, I need to talk to somebody because I am not okay,” she said.
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FHP believes the driver of the green pickup truck had stolen it from somewhere along 103rd Street, using a gun. After the crash, troopers say he ran from the area and tried stealing three other cars to get away.
“He jumped over the steel guardrail on the interstate and attempted to carjack another victim and at that time was unsuccessful, then attempted another vehicle and was unsuccessful,” said Master Sergeant Dylan Bryan with the Florida Highway Patrol, “it was alleged he did batter or assault one of the victims as well.”
FHP is still looking for the driver, who we’re told was last seen riding on the back of a semi-tractor trailer truck. He hasn’t been identified, but troopers say he has short locks and is believed to be wearing a black shirt and black shoes.
Anyone with information on the crash or the driver is asked to call Florida Highway Patrol.
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