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Drivers in I-95 pile-up want truck identified, offender cited

Witnesses say rocks and gravel spilled from back of vehicle
Posted at 11:27 AM, Mar 18, 2023
and last updated 2023-03-18 13:55:07-04

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — On Monday, March 6, just before 7 a.m. on southbound Interstate 95, a commuter’s dash camera catches a scary wreck.

Witnesses say rocks and gravel spilled from the back of a truck.

"I saw a car flip,” said Patrick Sorge, who was driving that morning. "And then I saw all the rocks on the ground."

"It was deep," said crash victim Ted Vandereedt of the gravel and rocks on the road. "It covered two lanes completely. Inches deep it seemed."

Vanderveet and Sorge drove over the rocks.

"I ended up hitting the brakes and then I spun out of control," Sorge said.

"And the sound was like machine guns," Vandereedt added. "Rocks bouncing off the windshield."

"I ended up going over all three lanes and hit the side of the fence then I smacked the tree and I totaled the car,” Sorge said. “I had whiplash. I’m still sore on the left side of my body.”

Witnesses say paramedics attended to two crash victims.

Vandereedt drove on with a cracked windshield, and paint chips along his SUV.

“And now I have to decide, do I want to go to my insurance company, do I want to pay my deductible?” asked Vandereedt, who said a Florida Highway Patrol Officer investigating the wreck said no one has been able to identify the truck in question.

Sorge hopes someone can.

"It was scary," Sorge said. "And I don’t want them to get away with just throwing a bunch of rocks on the road and hoping no one gets hurt."

Without a citation for the trucker, drivers caught up in the wreck are responsible to pay deductibles on repair costs for their vehicles, and co-pays on medical bills.

Drivers we talked with hope someone has information on the truck responsible and reports it to the Florida Highway Patrol.

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