Investigators say a TPD cruiser was heading south on Bruce B. Downs Boulevard at the intersection of 42nd Street in North Tampa at around 11:30 p.m. on Super Bowl Sunday when a pickup truck made a left-hand turn directly in front of the police car. The crash left pieces of vehicles scattered through the intersection. There were two other people along with the TPD officer in the police cruiser, though it wasn’t clear at the scene if those people were passengers, prisoners, or there for another reason. All three of the people in the car were hurt, but — thankfully — rescuers said they had only minor injuries.
They victims were taken to Tampa General Hospital for treatment. Two people were in the pickup truck; they were not hurt. Hillsborough County Sheriff’s deputies at the scene arrested the driver of the pickup on suspicion of drunk driving. Under Florida’s DUI laws, investigators will likely be able to take the driver’s bodily fluids to test the blood alcohol level.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there’s a deadly crash involving alcohol every 52 minutes on Super Bowl Sunday.