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Two children, 1 and 4 months, ejected from SUV during rollover crash on I-75 in Hillsborough

 
Two children were ejected from a van on I-75 after a tire blew and the driver lost control. The two children and two adults were not wearing seat belts, Florida Highway Patrol said. [Florida Highway Patrol]
Two children were ejected from a van on I-75 after a tire blew and the driver lost control. The two children and two adults were not wearing seat belts, Florida Highway Patrol said. [Florida Highway Patrol]
Published Dec. 13, 2018

TAMPA — Two children, ages 1 and 4 months, who were unrestrained, were ejected from an SUV that rolled over on Interstate 75 Thursday morning, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

According to troopers, 20-year-old Libis Juarez, of Dover was driving the 2002 Ford SUV south on I-75 around 8:30 a.m. Marcela Pacheco, 34, and the two young boys, all also of Dover, were passengers.

Troopers said none of the occupants were wearing seat belts and the children were not properly restrained in child seats.

The SUV was in the center lane, troopers said, when a rear tire blew out and Juarez lost control of the vehicle. It hopped the median and flipped several times, coming to rest in a bank along the side of the highway.

Juarez and Pacheco were partially ejected, but the two children were completely thrown from the vehicle. All four were transported to Tampa General Hospital with serious, but non-life threatening injuries.

Juarez was charged with driving without a license, not wearing a seat belt and two child seat violations.

Contact Daniel Figueroa IV at dfigueroa@tampabay.com. Follow @danuscripts.