Bartow man named as fifth victim in Monday’s fiery wreck near Brooksville
BROOKSVILLE — A Bartow man was named Thursday as the fifth victim in Monday’s fiery crash north of Brooksville.
Felipe Cruz, 48, was in a pickup truck with four other men traveling west on Ponce De Leon Boulevard about 10:30 a.m., according to the Florida Highway Patrol. The pickup, which was towing a trailer, was struck by a box truck traveling south on Citrus Way. The driver of the box truck blew through a stop sign and a flashing red light, the FHP said.
After the crash, the pickup truck ignited, and the men inside died. It was unclear if they died on impact or were burned to death. Authorities had trouble immediately identifying them because their bodies were charred.
The other men were Apolinar Nunez, 49, and Jose Gomez, 53, both of Winter Haven; Guillermo Chavez, 24, of Plant City, and Santos Vega, 47, of Bartow.
The two men in the box truck were taken to Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point in Hudson. The driver, 22-year-old Randy Escobar-Barrera of Tampa, received stitches to his head and face; Ariel Baez, 41, also of Tampa, had his spleen removed.
The wreck was still under investigation Thursday, and no charges had been filed.
The five men who died worked for Winter Haven-based Wingate Communications and Electric Inc., a wireless telecommunications equipment company. The company had 15 employees and lost a third of its workforce in the crash, said co-owner William L. Wingate, 61, of Winter Haven.
“To have that many people perish at one time so horrifically is just unbelievable,” Wingate said.
The men were on their way to a job site in Citrus County, Wingate said. One of the employees had been with the company for three years. The rest had worked for Wingate for at least five years; Cruz had about 10 years with the company.
All five were married or had girlfriends, and they had eight children among them.
Wingate has set up a memorial fund to assist the children, which can be found at gofund.me/3u9sjk38c. The goal, Wingate said, is to raise at least $80,000, or $10,000 for each child.
Contact Josh Solomon at (813) 226-3446 or [email protected]. Follow @josh_solomon15.
Source : tampabay.com
