MANATEE, FL, (April 20, 2026) — A tractor-trailer driver was killed Monday morning in a chain-reaction crash involving multiple vehicles on Interstate 75 in Manatee County, according to the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP).
Authorities said the crash occurred in the southbound lanes of I-75 just south of State Road 64. Investigators reported that an 18-year-old driver in a 2022 Ford Mustang was allegedly weaving through traffic when he entered the middle lane and struck an SUV.
The impact forced the SUV into the path of a tractor-trailer, causing the commercial vehicle to overturn.
The truck driver, identified as 34-year-old Stavan Albert Facey of New Smyrna Beach, sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The SUV driver suffered minor injuries.
FHP stated that the Mustang driver initially stopped briefly but then fled the scene southbound. Authorities later located and impounded the vehicle. The driver was arrested and faces charges of vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of a crash involving death.
The investigation remains ongoing.
