SPRING HILL, FL (352today.com) – The Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) says a speeding DUI driver caused a wreck that killed his passenger and injured two others.
Troopers say 38-year-old Reinier Casola Rodriguez of Tampa was traveling northbound on Mariner Boulevard, south of Quality Drive, in Spring Hill on Wednesday, Oct. 18 around 7 p.m. when he failed to negotiate a curve in the roadway due to driving at a high rate of speed.
They say the Ford F-150 truck he was driving entered the center median where the front seat passenger, who was not wearing a seatbelt, fell out of the truck. The truck crashed into a utility box, and FHP says the driver took off.
The Hernando County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) used a K-9 and tracked Casola Rodriguez about a mile from the crash scene.
Emergency crews transported the front seat passenger, a 34-year-old West Palm Beach man, to the hospital where he died.
They treated two other male passengers from Miami, aged 29 and 47, for minor injuries at the scene.
Troopers arrested and charged Casola Rodrigues with the following:
- DUI Manslaughter
- Leaving the scene of a crash involving death
- Driving while license suspended involving a death
- Felony battery for striking a nurse attempting to provide him medical care
They say Casola Rodriguez refused to provide a breath test or blood sample.