St. Pete Man, 49, Killed In Polk County Crash

POLK COUNTY, FL — A 49-year-old St. Petersburg man was killed in a Tuesday afternoon crash on Interstate 4 in Polk County.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, Robert Allen Topping II was driving an Isuzu truck westbound on I-4 around 3:21 p.m. July 11. As Topping traveled east of State Road 33 in the outside lane, a Ford service truck driven by Luis E. Marrero-Rosado, 50, of Lakeland was stopped westbound on the outside pave shoulder.

Marrero-Rosado’s truck was parked behind a semi-truck driven by Reginald Bernard David, 33, of St. Petersburg. Troopers say David’s semi had a flat tire.

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For “unknown reasons,” troopers say Topping’s Nissan went off the road, onto the shoulder and then struck the rear of Marrero-Rosado’s vehicle before hitting the semi.

Topping died at the scene. Both Marrero-Rosado and David were out of their vehicles at the time of the crash changing the tire. They both escaped injury, troopers say.

Alcohol is not a suspected factor in the crash. No further information is available at this time.

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Photo courtesy of the Florida Highway Patrol