10 inmates, 2 guards injured when car hits sheriff’s van on I-75 in Hernando

BROOKSVILLE — Ten inmates and two guards riding in a Pasco County Sheriff’s Office transport van received minor injuries when the driver of a car rear-ended the van on Interstate 75, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

The crash occurred at 4:55 a.m. Tuesday south of U.S. 98 and east of Brooksville.

A 26-year-old Ocala man was driving north on I-75 in a Hyundai Sonata when he failed to slow down, then hit the back of the van. The vehicles collided with the van coming to rest on the side of the road and the Hyundai spinning into the inside travel lane.

The driver of the van was a 54-year-old Tampa man. He and the second guard work with a sheriff’s contractor.

The Highway Patrol did not identify any of the people involved in the crash.