I-75 Dump Truck Collision Kills One, Injures Two

By Matt Wiley | May 21

A man is dead and his wife and granddaughter are in serious condition at our press time, following a collision with a dump truck on I-75.

According to the Florida High Patrol, at 10:42 a.m. on May 21, John Porter, 61, of Wesley Chapel, was traveling southbound on I-75 south of S.R. 56 with his wife Mary, 58, and three-year-old granddaughter in his 2012 Hyundai sedan, when a dump truck, driven by Critobal L. Cepero, 49, hauling dirt from the I-75-widening project, pulled onto the interstate, directly in the path of the Porters’ vehicle.

Unable to avoid a collision, the report says, the Porters’ Hyundai struck the back of Cepero’s truck and came to rest on the inside shoulder of the interstate. The Porters and their granddaughter, who was in a child seat, were airlifted to St. Joseph’s Hospital. John Porter died at 12:30 p.m. Mary and the child remained in serious condition at our press time.

Relatives have since been notified. Seatbelts were worn and alcohol is not thought to be a factor in the collision. No additional information was available at our press time, although PCSO says the accident remains under investigation. All lanes of the interstate were reopened as of 12:45 p.m. that day.