TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Two people were killed and two others were seriously injured after a wrong-way driver crashed into a vehicle on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge Wednesday night, authorities said.
The driver, who was also injured in the crash, is facing felony murder charges, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said a stolen car task force spotted a what was believed to be a stolen Mustang in Hillsborough County around 8 p.m., and tried to arrest the driver.
He sped off and hit two patrol cars in the process.
The sheriff’s office says they did not pursue the stolen car, but their helicopter followed the Mustang from above.
The Florida Highway Patrol joined the effort, and clocked the Mustang at speeds of 140 miles an hour as it fled.
The FHP said it followed from a distance as the car traveled over the Skyway. A trooper eventually tried to stop the Mustang, and the driver hit his car, which left the trooper with minor injuries.
Noel Moret works on the Skyway Fishing Pier and heard the car speeding on the bridge.
“Oh my God, unbelievable. I tell you what, he was hammer down and the police was behind him and he was hammer down, real fast,” Moret said.
He then saw the Mustang turn around on the bridge and head in the wrong direction.
“He was going southbound, and then he turn around and go back now and he turn around and go back there,” said Moret.
Then the Mustang ran into a van head-on, killing the driver and a passenger, and seriously injuring two others in the van.
Troopers identified the victims as a 33-year-old man from Bradenton and three passengers who were visiting from Columbiana, Ohio.
The Highway Patrol arrested 22-year-old Leosvany Arias Roman of Hialeah. He is being charged with two counts of felony murder and a long list of other charges. Roman was also injured in the crash. He is now in custody.
