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Crash on U.S. 301 in Pasco County leaves teen U-Haul driver dead, two injured

 
Published Jan. 12, 2015

ZEPHYRHILLS — A 16-year-old boy from Tampa was killed Monday morning when the rental U-Haul truck he was driving crossed a lane on U.S. 301 and struck an oncoming semitrailer.

Damarcos Michael Ratcliff died at the scene, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Two passengers, Jiro Aman Hall and Kaneal Rashawn Jones, were seriously injured and taken to St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa. The semitrailer driver was not hurt.

Hall, 14, and Jones, 23, are both of Tampa.

Just after 10 a.m., Ratcliff was driving the truck south on U.S. 301, about 1 1/2 miles south of Chancey Road. For unknown reasons, the U-Haul crossed the double yellow line and veered into the path of the semitrailer, which was being driven in the northbound lane by Michael R. Norris, 31, of Bradenton.

Norris swerved to the shoulder, trying to avoid a collision, but the U-Haul hit the rear axles of the trailer. The U-Haul rotated and stopped in the northbound lane.

The semitrailer, which was designed to haul fertilizer and was operated by Dillon Leasing of Illinois, was empty.

The northbound lane of U.S. 301 was closed for three hours.