JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Within hours of wrong-way crash that killed a 73-year-old man on Interstate 95 just south of the Duval-Nassau County line, the Florida Highway Patrol charged the other driver with DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide.
According to troopers, Victor Herrera, 33, of Jacksonville, was heading south in the northbound lanes just after 3 a.m. Friday when his car struck a red pickup truck driven by Eugene Brunstetter, of Holly Hill in Volusia County.
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Brunstetter died at the scene. Herrera was taken to Shands Jacksonville Medical Center with minor injuries. Troopers said he will be booked into the Duval County Jail once he is released from the hospital.
"(Brunstetter) was not wearing a seat belt, but it didn't look like it would've made any difference because it was a very violent collision, a lot of intrusion inside the vehicle," FHP Lt. Bill Leeper said.
All northbound lanes of I-95 northbound were closed until just after 6 a.m., when troopers opened one lane. By 7 a.m., the wreck was cleared and all lanes were reopened.
Herrera, a Navy sailor stationed at Naval Station Mayport, has several previous driving citations in Jacksonville, including speeding and racing on a highway.
Troopers said they aren't sure how long Herrera had been driving the wrong way down the Interstate, but they said he may have gotten on the highway at an exit ramp about five miles north of the crash scene.
"You don't expect anyone to come at you in the wrong direction, but it does happen occasionally," Leeper said.
Troopers said Brunstetter likely didn't have time to react because Herrera's car was coming at him at 70 mph.
"We don't know if the individual that got struck knew the vehicle was traveling at him," Leeper said.