Advertisement

Authorities identify 4 of 5 men who died Monday in Hernando County crash

 
Five men were killed when a box truck slammed into a pickup truck Monday morning at an intersection north of Brooksville.
Five men were killed when a box truck slammed into a pickup truck Monday morning at an intersection north of Brooksville.
Published July 30, 2015

BROOKSVILLE — The Florida Highway Patrol on Wednesday identified four of the five men who died in a fiery crash this week at the intersection of Citrus Way and Ponce de Leon Boulevard.

Apolinar Nunez, 49, and Jose Gomez, 53, both of Winter Haven; Guillermo Chavez, 24, of Plant City; and Santos Vega, 47, and an unidentified 48-year-old man from Bartow were all killed Monday morning when the 2006 Chevrolet pickup truck they were driving in was struck by a box truck that had failed to stop at the intersection.

The badly damaged pickup caught fire, trapping the occupants inside, a Highway Patrol report said. It was unclear Wednesday if they died on impact or were burned to death. The victims' bodies were so charred authorities were not able to immediately identify them.

The name of the fifth victim was being withheld until Mexican authorities could inform his family, the Highway Patrol said.

The five men worked for Wingate Communications and Electric Inc. of Winter Haven.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with our lost employees' families at this time," the company said in a statement. "The loss of five lives is a humbling and heart-wrenching experience for all involved. Wingate Communications is a family and we will grieve and work together as families do to get through tough times."

Representatives of the company could not be reached Wednesday to discuss what the workers were doing in Hernando County.

Randy Escobar-Barrera, 22, of Tampa, the driver of the box truck, was taken to Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point, where he received stitches to his head and chin. The box truck passenger, Ariel Baez, 41, also of Tampa, was airlifted to the same hospital, where his spleen was removed.

Times staff writer Samantha Schmidt and researcher John Martin contributed to this report. Contact Josh Solomon at (813) 226-3446 or jsolomon@tampabay.com. Follow @josh_solomon15.