PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — A 28-year-old man was cited after troopers said he struck a Pasco County deputy’s patrol SUV and another vehicle during a traffic stop Friday evening on State Road 54, according to Florida Highway Patrol (FHP).
Around 10:22 p.m., a marked Pasco Sheriff’s Office Ford Explorer, driven by Deputy Christopher Scott Wojtas, 30, was stopped partially in the inside lane and grassy median behind another vehicle during a traffic stop with its emergency lights activated near Ballantrae Boulevard, according to a crash report.
In front of the patrol unit was a 2021 Audi A5 driven by 18-year-old Addison Grace Lancaster.
Troopers said Omar Antonio Malave, 28, was heading eastbound in a 2016 Jeep Compass in the inside lane when he failed to slow down or move over, as required by Florida’s move over law. Malave’s Jeep struck the back of the patrol SUV, pushing it into the grassy median and over two traffic signs, and also rear-ended Lancaster’s Audi, per the report.
FHP said the crash caused significant damage, but no serious injuries were reported.
As a result of the crash, Malave was charged with careless driving.
Saudi flight from Tampa, secret FBI probe reveal possible Saudi support network for 9/11 hijackers
Twenty years after the Sept. 11 attacks, more than 80,000 records compiled by the Tampa FBI Field Office remain classified. Newly declassified documents are pointing to a possible secret Saudi support network for the hijackers. Soon after the attacks, the FBI uncovered that 15 of the 19 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia.
