Pickup crashes through airport wall, lands in SRQ baggage claim area

The Florida Highway Patrol and other agencies continue to investigate an incident early Thursday morning in which a pickup truck crashed through a wall at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport, landing near the baggage claim area of the arrivals terminal.

In a press release from FHP on Thursday, troopers reported charges are pending the completion of the investigation. Driver Juan Monsivis, 40, of Bradenton received serious injuries in the crash.

According to the release, at about 2:56 a.m., a New College Police officer spotted a 2015 GMC Sierra driving recklessly northbound on U.S. 41 near the airport and tried to overtake it. The officer eventually lost sight of the GMC, but moments later a GMC truck crashed through the airport’s western fence and ultimately hit a wall of the airport’s terminal, then a rental car agency desk, coming to rest near Baggage Claim Carousel 1.

The New College officer confirmed the GMC that crashed through the airport wall was the same vehicle he had spotted on U.S. 41.

Monsivis was taken to Sarasota Memorial Hospital.

A delayed flight from Rockford, Ill., arrived at the airport around 3:15 a.m., about 20 minutes after the crash. No one other than Monsivis was reported hurt.