Dunnellon duo, sideswiped on I-75 in Columbia County, uninjured in fatal crash
Columbia County Detention Facility mugshot of Sergio Diaz-Ortiz.
Columbia County, Florida - On Sunday afternoon, March 10, 2024, the Florida Highway Patrol investigated a fatal traffic crash that involved two pickup trucks. The crash occurred at 1:37 pm, in the southbound lanes of Interstate 75, at mile marker 418, in Columbia County.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, both pickup trucks had been traveling south on Interstate 75, when one of the trucks - driven by Sergio Diaz-Ortiz, a 32 year-old man from Lake City, Florida - had reportedly been driving in a erratic manner prior to it sideswiping the second pickup truck, driven by a 57 year-old man from Dunnellon, Florida.
After the collision, the Dunnellon driver came to a controlled stop near the 418 mile marker. Neither he nor his passenger, a 51 year-old woman, also from Dunnellon, were injured during the crash. Both were wearing a seatbelt when the crash occurred.
After the collision, the pickup truck driven by Diaz-Ortiz overturned and struck a tree on the west shoulder of the roadway. One passenger in Diaz-Ortiz's vehicle, a 28 year-old man from Lake City, was pronounced deceased on the scene of the crash, and another passenger, a man whose age was not stated, also from Lake City, was transported to UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Florida with serious injuries. Neither was wearing a seatbelt.
Driver Sergio Diaz-Ortiz, who was wearing a seatbelt and sustained minor injuries, ran into a nearby wooded area. He was later apprehended and transported to the Columbia County Detention Facility in Lake City. His charges include vehicular homicide, driving with no driver's license, and leaving the scene of a crash involving death, with his bond set at none.