POLK COUNTY, Fla. — The Polk County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) said three people died in a four-vehicle crash near Polk City on Sunday evening.
PCSO said deputies were dispatched to the 15000 block of Commonwealth Avenue just before 8:30 p.m. on March 8.
Deputies said they arrived to find two motorcyclists, a man and a woman from Florida’s Suncoast area, dead at the scene of a crash.
Officials said the two were each on a motorcycle and traveling side-by-side in the southbound lanes of Commonwealth Avenue before the crash.
At the same time, PCSO said a red 2013 Dodge Charger, driven by a 75-year-old Clermont man with a 75-year-old Clermont woman as a passenger, was traveling north on Commonwealth Avenue in a line of traffic.
According to witnesses, the Dodge attempted to pass three vehicles in front of it by moving into the southbound lane. As the Dodge got next to the vehicle at the front of the line, the Dodge hit the two southbound motorcyclists head-on, per the report.
The driver and passenger of the Dodge were taken to the hospital. The passenger only suffered minor injuries, but the report said the driver later died from his injuries at the hospital.
A white 2011 Jeep Compass, passed by the Dodge Charger, was hit by the male motorcyclist, who had been ejected from his bike. The report said the Jeep driver was not injured.
After the crash, deputies said Commonwealth Avenue was closed for around four-and-a-half hours.
PCSO said no charges are anticipated, but the investigation remains ongoing.
Soaring gas prices disrupt spring break plans for Lakeland drivers
The escalating war in Iran is hitting drivers right here in the Tampa Bay Area hard. Tampa Bay 28's Rebecca Petit caught up with drivers in Lakeland who told her that soaring gas prices are crushing their spring break plans.
