Man arrested in deadly Manatee County crash

An 18-year-old man from the east Florida town of Cocoa was arrested and charged with vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of crash involving death in connection with an Interstate 75 wreck Monday morning.

In that 6:24 a.m. incident near State Road 64 in Manatee County, a 34-year-old truck driver from New Smyrna Beach was killed. FHP said a black Ford Mustang involved in the crash left the scene, setting off a search for the vehicle and its driver, described as a man in a gray hooded sweatshirt.

Image courtesy of Florida Highway Patrol

Jonathan Matos Morales was arrested and booked on Tuesday morning into the Manatee County Jail. Florida Highway Patrol troopers say a 2022 black Ford Mustang with damage to its right side was also located.

On Monday morning, in the southbound lanes of Interstate 75, the three-car crash blocked traffic for hours.

In a release send to news media, the FHP said a black Mustang changed lanes from the left to center, hitting an SUV in the process. That SUV then collided with a tractor-trailer in the right lane, causing it to swerve and roll over, killing the driver and ending up on the median and across all three lanes. The SUV driver received minor injuries, the FHP said.

Video released from a dashcam by the FHP shows a Mustang initially passing traffic in the right lane, braking and accelerating several times and changing lanes several more times before ultimately hitting the SUV.

Video shows the Mustang initially stopped after the collision, then fishtailing under acceleration and driving away from the scene.

FHP said the incident remains under investigation.