ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – An 81-year-old Jacksonville man was killed late Sunday night in a crash on Interstate 95 near International Golf Parkway, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
According to the FHP report, James Sabaka was driving northbound in a Chevy Tahoe with passenger Ruth Ann Sabaka, 78, when he slowed for traffic in the center lane and a Ford F250 driving behind him failed to stop in time, hitting the left rear of the SUV and sending it spinning into the back of a semi directly ahead. James Sabaka died at the scene and Ruth Ann Sabaka was taken to UF Health with critical injuries.
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The driver of the F250, 32-year-old Justin Merckling of St. Augustine, and the driver of the semi, 38-year-old Troy Engh of Palm Coast, were not injured, FHP said.
During the crash, a truck driving in the right lane swerved to the right to avoid the crash, but hit the right front of the SUV. The driver of the truck, 49-year-old Dennis R. Lytle of Orlando, was taken to Baptist South with minor injuries.
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A car in the left lane also tried to avoid the crash but hit the F250's left rear. The car's driver, 57-year-old Laura Dalzell of Lexington, Kentucky, was not injured.
The crash happened about 10:30 p.m. and all northbound lanes of I-95 were closed until just after 5:30 a.m., FHP said.
FHP has reports that two smaller vehicles, described as white and dark blue, were possibly racing on I-95 northbound around mile marker 323 before the deadly crash.
The FHP is asking for anyone with information about the crash to call 904-359-6572, *FHP on a cellphone or the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-888-277-8477.
Minutes before the deadly crash, two other crashes were reported on I-95 northbound at International Golf Parkway.
A Honda S2000 driven by 21-year-old Andrew John Todd of Indialantic lost control and spun into the guardrail about 10:20 p.m. Todd was not injured.
That crash caused traffic that led to another crash at 10:29 p.m., according to FHP. A silver Hyundai sedan and a white Ford pickup truck stopping for traffic were both rear-ended by a red Dodge pickup truck, driven by 45-year-old Cesar Gomez. The driver of the Hyundai, 41-year-old Julianne Zastrow, suffered minor injuries.
FHP said a fourth crash happened just before 2 a.m. when Luis Tellez, 49, failed to maneuver around the S2000 that had crashed earlier in the left lane. Tellez hit the empty vehicle and suffered minor injuries.