HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — A Tampa woman on probation for a 2014 traffic fatality was arrested Sunday after a deadly high-speed crash off Interstate 4 in Hillsborough County, authorities said.
The crash happened at about 1:40 a.m. Sunday morning at the Gator Ford dealership, 1780 Tampa Gateway Boulevard, near Interstate 4, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
The Highway Patrol said the driver, Jennifer Carvajal was clocked three times traveling west on Interstate 4 at 111 mph, and had passed a trooper without stopping.
When the trooper tried to overtake her vehicle, Carvajal made a hard right turn, which sent the Hyundai Elantra into the shoulder and down an embankment before it went airborne, over a fence and crashed into the dealership, where it overturned.
A passenger in the front seat was thrown to the back of the car and two other passengers were ejected. All three passengers suffered serious injuries and one later died, the Highway Patrol said.
Carvajal suffered minor injuries. She was the only one in the car wearing a seatbelt, according to the report.
Carvajal faces charges of reckless driving (serious injury), DUI (serious injury), DUI with property damage, driving without a driver’s license (serious injury) and violation of probation for DUI manslaughter.
According to reports, Carvajal served time in prison after she ran a red light and struck and killed a 52-year-old driver in Plant City in 2014. Carvajal, who was 16 at the time of the crash, was arrested for DUI manslaughter and driving without a valid license.
