Winter Haven Police Press Release
A crash along Lucerne Park Rd. this morning caused a total shutdown during one of the busiest times of day.
Today (9-28-17) at approximately 7:44 a.m., a 2015 Ford Escape driven by 63 year-old Jeffrey Showers of Davenport was traveling west on Lucerne Park Rd. while a 2015 Ford F-250 (pulling a trailer carrying a Bobcat loader) driven by 54 year-old Moises Cati of Winter Haven was traveling east.
As the vehicles were approximately one-half mile from the entrance of Lakeside Landings, for unknown reasons, Showers crossed the center line heading towards Cati’s vehicle. Cati immediately took evasive action to avoid a head-on crash and jerked the wheel causing the vehicle and trailer to go into a slide. Showers’ vehicle struck the back wheel on the driver’s side of the truck causing his car to lunge into the air where the collision occurred.
The impact caused the trailer that was hooked to the F-250 to flip onto its side ultimately resulting in the truck and trailer sliding approximately 150 feet along the roadway.
A 2017 Chevy Silvarado driven by 45 year-old Raymond Hernandez Chacon, Jr of Haines City and a 2012 Honda Civic driven by 44 year-old Melissa Caraballo of Davenport were both traveling west behind Cati. They both immediately took evasive action to avoid the truck and trailer that was sliding straight towards them. Both of their vehicles ended up in the ditch on the side of the roadway. Neither Chacon nor Caraballo received any injuries.
Showers, who had been trapped inside of his vehicle, was airlifted to Lakeland Regional Health in serious but stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries. Cati was driven to Winter Haven Hospital in a personal vehicle after complaining of stomach pains. Two occupants in Cati’s truck were uninjured.
The roadway was shut down for more than four hours, opening back up just after noon. The crash is under investigation and charges are pending.
