2 Die In Wrong-Way Crash On Florida Highway
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RIDGE MANOR (CBSMiami/AP) — A car crash on Florida's west coast has claimed two lives.
A wrong-way driver ran a Florida sheriff's deputy off the road minutes before crashing into another head-on into another vehicle.
Hernando County Sheriff's officials said in a news release that both drivers died in the crash early Tuesday morning north of Tampa.
The deputy was on patrol around 1 a.m. Tuesday when the vehicle drove toward his vehicle and the truck that was traveling in front of him. They swerved off the road to avoid a collision. The deputy called for assistance from a nearby deputy.
The Florida Highway Patrol said in a news release that 37-year-old Tony Lavon Warthen struck a car driven by 23-year-old Laura Billingsley. Both died at the scene.
Investigators are testing to see if alcohol was involved.
The deputy wasn't injured.
(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)