One person was killed and five others were critically injured in a two-vehicle crash early Friday at 7:32 at the intersection of Berkley Road and Drexel Boulevard in Auburndale, FL, Auburndale Police Department reported.
According to the News Cheif, About six hours earlier, on New Year's Eve, a 48-year-old man on a bicycle was struck and killed by a car on Berkley Road in Auburndale, FL.
In the two-car crash, one of the vehicles involved had just fled a traffic stop, according to an Auburndale Police Department report.
According to the report, a police officer attempted a traffic stop on a black Acura Integra at 1:26 a.m. on New Year's Day, but instead of stopping, the driver of the Integra fled west at high speed along U.S. 92 in Auburndale, FL. Auburndale, FL police reported that they dropped their pursuit of the car, the driver of the Integra continued to speed down the highway.
According to a witness who spoke to police, the Integra ran two red lights before colliding with a white, four-door Chevrolet that was making a turn north onto Berkley Road from eastbound U.S. 92.
Three out of four people in the Chevy were ejected from the car, police reported, and a passenger in the Integra was ejected when that car overturned and landed in the ditch on the west side of U.S. 92, in front of a Shell gasoline station.
The driver of the Integra was killed instantly and five people were taken to Lakeland Regional Medical Center in critical condition, police reported.
Polk County, FL Police on Saturday identified the decedent as David Valles of 146 18th St. W. in Wahneta in Auburndale, FL. No other information was available about the injured crash victims.
The investigation for both crashes was turned over to the Polk County, Fl police department's Traffic Homicide Unit. Anyone with additional information is asked to call Cpl. Roger Tribble at 863-965-5555.
According to the 2008 Crash Reports of Motor Vehicle Crashes/Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, bicycles are linked to more childhood injuries than any other consumer product except the automobile. More than 70 percent of children, ages 5 to 14, ride bicycles. This age group rides 50 percent more than the average bicyclist and accounts for approximately 16 percent of all bicycle-related deaths and more than half of all bicycle-related injuries. In 2008, 511 children, ages 14 and younger, were injured or killed on bicycles in Florida
Rivas Law Group, L.L.C. is a personal injury law firm located in Winter Haven, FL. Attorney Tania L. Rivas is dedicated to meeting the legal needs of Polk County, FL and representing injured victims.
