33-Foot Fall From I-4 Entrance Ramp Leaves Man Seriously Injured

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL — A 24-year-old Tampa man has been hospitalized after falling 33 feet from an Interstate 4 entrance ramp on Tuesday morning.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, an unknown truck was heading north on the Selmon Expressway around 9:23 a.m. Nov. 29. As the truck entered the entrance ramp to eastbound Interstate 4, it dropped a large amount of gravel and continued heading onto I-4.

Moments later, a Buick driven by Irene Blitch, 56, of Tampa entered the ramp. Blitch lost control of her car and struck a barrier wall. A second vehicle, a Pontiac driven by 24-year-old William Swartz, also encountered the gravel. Swartz lost control and struck the barrier wall, a highway patrol report said.

After impact, Swartz got out of his vehicle to survey the damage, troopers said. It was then a third vehicle, a Toyota driven by Dorothy Moore, 66, of Tampa, came onto the scene. Moore, the report said, also lost control of her car, struck the barrier wall and then hit the Pontiac and its driver.

Swartz was “propelled over the barrier wall where he fell 33 feet to the ground below,” the report said.

Moore and Blitch were not injured in the crash. Swartz was taken to a local hospital for treatment.

The crash closed the I-4 entrance ramp for several hours Tuesday morning.

Troopers are now looking for the driver of the truck that was hauling the gravel. Anyone with information is asked to call 813-631-4020.

No further information is available at this time.

Photo courtesy of the Florida Highway Patrol