An Orange County sheriff’s deputy and the driver of a car the deputy had pulled over are in serious condition after a four-car accident on the Florida’s Turnpike yesterday morning.
Deputy Shane Dickens, 23, of Orlando had made a traffic stop of a car driven by Kerry Velasquez, 22, of St. Cloud at mile marker 252 of the southbound lanes of Florida’s Turnpike before dawn. Velasquez pulled his Buick over into the shoulder on the left by the median, according the Florida Highway Patrol.
Dickens’ marked patrol car had all its emergency lights on and was parked behind the Buick.
A Ford Explorer driven by Christopher Schriefer, 32, of Kissimmee was driving in the southbound left inside lane and failed to move over as required by law, according to the FHP. As the Ford approached the scene, Schriefer veered off the road onto the shoulder and struck the back of Dickens’ patrol car.
The Ford then bounced back into the travel lanes and was side-swiped by a southbound semi truck traveling in the right lane driven by Arturo Lopez, 55, of Oak Creek, Wis.
At the time of the collision, Deputy Dickens was out of his vehicle conducting his traffic stop and standing beside the driver-side window of the Buick.
Schriefer, the driver of the Ford Explorer, has a prior DUI arrest in Orange County in 2003. Schriefer sustained minor injuries according to the FHP report. He was transported toFlorida Hospital Kissimmee.
Dickens and Velasquez were transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center.
The roadway was reopened to all southbound traffic at 5:33 a.m.