Police: Man killed after being hit on Turnpike near PSL, then struck by three other cars that didn’t stop

PORT ST. LUCIE — A Miami Beach tow truck driver who was parked on the side of Florida’s Turnpike early Sunday near Port St. Lucie was killed after he was struck by a car and then run over by three additional vehicles that fled the scene, police said.

The crash happened about 12:06 a.m. Sunday at mile marker 149, near the Champion Turf Club at St. James, in the southbound lane of Florida’s Turnpike, Florida Highway Patrol said.

The tow truck driver, 57, had parked on the right-hand shoulder with his driver-side door open and was standing next to it. A 20-year-old Deerfield Beach woman driving a sedan heading south hit the car’s open door and the truck driver, FHP said.

The impact threw the tow truck driver into the southbound lanes. As he lay on the road, he was hit by three other vehicles, none of which stopped, troopers said. The sedan driver, who did remain at the scene, was not injured, nor was her passenger, a 22-year-old Deerfield Beach man.

The tow truck driver was pronounced dead at the scene. Troopers closed the southbound turnpike after the crash. It reopened just before 8 a.m. Sunday.

Of the three additional vehicles that hit the pedestrian, FHP is looking for a possible maroon SUV, unknown make or model, and a possible Mazda, unknown model, said Lt. Yanko Reyes, an FHP spokesman. Anyone with information about the crash is encouraged to contact Florida Highway Patrol at *347.

FHP did not disclose the identity of the dead man or the sedan driver. The agency stopped making public the names of those who die or are injured in crashes investigated by troopers and the names of other individuals involved in crashes. The agency announced the change in April 2020.