2 Dead In Fiery 8-Car Pileup On Interstate 75 Identified

NEW TAMPA, FL — The Florida Highway Patrol has released the names of the two people who died in a fiery chain-reaction crash involving eight vehicles on Interstate 75 at the Hillsborough and Pasco County line last week.

According to Florida Highway Patrol, the Nov. 13 crash, which occurred just north of New Tampa Boulevard, involved two semi tractor-trailer trucks and six other vehicles, closing down the northbound lanes of the highway through rush hour.

All eight vehicles were traveling north on I-75 at 6:05 p.m. when a Mazda 6 driven by Usman Riaz, 37, of Land O' Lakes came to a stop in the outside northbound lane for traffic ahead. The six vehicles behind Riaz began to slow, however, Dwayne Edward McCormick, 54, of Evington, Virginia, driving a tractor-trailer truck didn't realize traffic ahead was slowing until it was too late. The highway patrol said the truck entered the center lane to avoid a collision but ended up hitting the rear of a Chevrolet Equinox driven by Candice Reetz, 35, of Wesley Chapel.

The Equinox then crashed into a Buick Verano driven by Robert Maldonado Jr., 28, of Land O' Lakes, which, in turn, collided with a BMW sedan driven by Katheleen Ybarra, 26, of Land O' Lakes.

In the meantime, the tractor-trailer truck was propelled into a Mercedes sedan driven by Robert William Mavis, 40, of Land O' Lakes, which collided with another semi tractor-trailer truck driven by Jason Howard, 36, of Lakeland.

McCormick's tractor-trailer truck continued forward, striking the pillar of an overhead road sign and landing on top of the Mercedes. The truck and Mercedes burst into flames, killing both McCormick and Mavis.

Reetz was taken to Tampa General Hospital with serious injuries. Maldonado and Ybarra were taken to St. Joseph's Hospital with minor injuries.

Also treated for minor injuries was George Pagan, 57, of Tampa, the driver of a Ford van that was struck during the chain-reaction collision.