Four-car crash sends driver to the hospital, ties up Tampa intersection

TAMPA — A woman ended up in Tampa General Hospital with serious injuries Tuesday afternoon when she ran a red light in Ybor City, caused a four-car accident and had to be cut free from her pickup truck, according to Tampa police.

Tampa Fire Rescue got the call at 2:22 p.m. to the intersection of Palm Avenue and N. 21st Street, said Capt. Bill Wade of Tampa Fire Rescue.

When rescuers arrived, a woman driving a Chevy Colorado was pinned in her pickup, Wade said. The intersection was closed for hours as rescuers freed the woman and police investigated the accident.

Witnesses said the woman driving the Colorado west on Palm Avenue ran a red traffic signal and struck a white Ford F-250, said Sgt. Joseph Fish of the Tampa police.

Fish said the F-250 flipped and struck a white Chevrolet Impala as the Colorado hit a GMC Jimmy and then spun into the side of a building on the southeast corner of the intersection.

The man driving the F-250 crawled out of the truck, which came to rest on its side, and was taken to Tampa General Hospital with injuries that weren't life-threatening, Fish said.

Mary "Mickey" Wright, 48, a race car driver from Clearwater, said the woman in the Colorado had to be going at least 60 miles per hour when she blew threw the light. Wright, who was driving the Jimmy, wasn't injured in the accident, but said it put a dent in her schedule.

The Colorado driver's identity was not released Tuesday night, and no charges have been filed, police said.