FHP: 18-year-old killed in Westside crash

Troopers: Caleb Jordan Keith lost control of car before hitting fence, power pole

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – An 18-year-old driver was killed early Monday morning after he lost control of his car and hit a chain-link fence and a concrete power pole, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

The FHP report said Caleb Jordan Keith, who was not wearing a seat belt, was driving a 1996 Ford Ranger on West Beaver Street near Chaffee Road when he crashed near a gas station.

Keith was a warehouseman at W.W. Gay Mechanical Contractor and ran a lawn care business on the side. He had been working at W.W. Gay full-time for about a year and was in the process of being promoted.

"Everybody in the company knew him, and that's why it's tough for us here," W.W. Gay president David Boree said. "He's a family member. It hit us, very surprising for us."

Boree said Keith would come in early and stay late and enjoyed his work with the company.

"He was a good young man, well-mannered and in that respect it's just hard to find them like that anymore today," said John Combs, W.W. Gay warehouse supervisor. "But he was always willing to go that extra mile."

He volunteered at company events and was active in his church. Keith's father has worked at W.W. Gay for 20 years.

Keith's employers called him a leader who lived his life the right away and died much too soon.

"Remember him as a bright, good young man," Boree said.

In separate accidents over the weekend, 33-year-old Joshua Gedraitis, who was also not wearing his seat belt, died after he was ejected on Interstate 95, and 41-year-old James Potter was killed riding his motorcycle on I-295 North after he crashed into a car.

All lanes of Beaver Street were shut down for hours after Keith's crash as the FHP investigated.