Interstate 75 crash snarls traffic for hours

The out-of-town driver of a tractor-trailer received minor injuries in a highway crash Thursday morning that snarled Interstate 75 for hours and ended with a boat blocking two of the southbound side’s three travel lanes.

Arderusi Lamar Sneed, 30, of Center Point, Ala., was taken to Sarasota Memorial Hospital after the crash between his truck and a pickup towing a boat. The International ProStar tractor and its trailer came to rest upside down in the trees off the highway.

Robert Lehman and Julie Lehman, both of Sarasota, were driving the Ford F-350 towing the boat. They were unhurt, the Florida Highway Patrol reported.

Troopers gave this account of the 9:35 a.m. crash in a report:

Both vehicles were southbound on I-75 near Clark Road – the tractor-trailer in the center lane and the Ford-boat trailer combination in the right lane. The FHP reported the tractor-trailer moved into the right lane, hitting the Ford, which forced the boat to fall from its trailer.

The tractor-trailer left the road and overturned. The Ford stopped in the paved emergency lane.

Charges are pending following completion of the investigation.