Pinellas Jail Van Crashes In Clearwater

CLEARWATER, FL — The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a crash involving one of its own prisoner transport vans. Four people were taken to local hospitals with injuries following the Sunday night collision.

According to the sheriff’s office, G4S security officer Jesus Ortiz, 31, was driving one of its prisoner transport vans around 8:40 p.m. March 5 with no prisoners on board. Ortiz was stopped in the northbound left turn lane onto McMullen Booth Road at the Sunset Point Road intersection at the time. Deputies say Ortiz was waiting for the red arrow to turn green to make a westbound turn onto Sunset Point Road.

Investigators, however, say Ortiz ended up going through the intersection while the “traffic signal in his left turn lane was still red.”

Ortiz, an email from the sheriff’s office said, continued making the turn under the red light and drove into the path of a 2017 Kia Sportage driven by Laura Chase, 49, of Oldsmar. Chase, the email said, ‘had a green traffic light as she proceeded southbound through the intersection.”

The Kia and transport van collided, the email said.

Chase and two of her passengers were taken to a local hospital following the crash. All three, the email said, suffered non-life threatening injuries. Ortiz was also taken to a hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.

The crash remains under investigation with no charges announced. Investigators did say that impairment and speed were not factors in the crash.

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