Border Patrol Stop, Bomb Threat Snarled Tampa Bay Interstates Thursday Morning

WESLEY CHAPEL, FL — Incidents on two Tampa Bay area interstates late Thursday morning left lanes off limits to motorists. One incident involved a U.S. Border Patrol traffic stop on Interstate 75 in Pasco County. A possible bomb on Interstate 275 in Hillsborough County also snarled traffic for a time in the Tampa area.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the first incident began to unfold around 10:11 a.m. Sept. 22 when U.S. Border Patrol officers attempted to stop a minivan traveling south on I-75 near State Road 56 in Pasco County.

“Once stopped, five persons fled on foot from the vehicle,” an email from highway patrol spokesman Sgt. Steve Gaskins said. One person ran across the interstate, Gaskins said, and was struck by a southbound Ford Mustang.

The person hit by the vehicle suffered serious injuries and was airlifted to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa for treatment.

The other four people from the van, ran into woods near the interstate.

“The incident closed the southbound lanes of the interstate for over an hour,” Gaskins said.

As of 12:06 p.m., the inside lane remained closed, but was expected to reopen soon.

The search for the other four people remains active with troopers, border patrol and Pasco County Sheriff’s deputies all taking part.

While the traffic stop was occurring in Pasco County, a FHP Road Ranger stopped along northbound I-275 near the Howard Frankland Bridge around 10:18 a.m. to help what he thought was a motorist with a disabled vehicle, Gaskins said.

“He discovered a mentally unstable driver who indicated he was being followed and that he had a bomb within his vehicle,” Gaskins noted.

That discovery prompted the temporary closing of northbound lanes while the scene was cleared and it was discovered there wasn’t a bomb.

The driver, who has not been identified by authorities, was taken in for mental evaluation under the state’s Baker Act.

No further details on either incident are available at this time.

Photo courtesy of the Florida Highway Patrol