LEESBURG, Florida—The driver who rear-ended a man, causing a chain-reaction crash Monday morning that killed the man, does not have a license, the Florida Highway Patrol said following the crash.
Around 7:20 a.m. Monday, Gustavo Martinez Cortez, 36, of Eustis was driving a 2003 Chevy Silverado southbound on County Road 44 when he failed to stop for a 2004 Toyota Corolla that was stopped in the southbound lane, waiting to turn on Silver Lake Road, FHP Lt. Tara Crescenzi said.
The Silverado struck the Corolla, being driven by a 42-year-old Eustis man, and pushed it into the northbound lane, causing the front of a tractor-trailer to collide with the right side of the Corolla. The Corolla rotated, reentered the southbound lane, and struck a 2015 Mitsubishi Mirage head-on. The crash partially ejected the driver of the Corolla, and he was pronounced dead on the scene.
The driver of the Mirage, a 23-year-old DeLand woman was transported to a local hospital with minor injuries. The driver of the tractor-trailer, a 69-year-old Avon Park man, and Cortez were not injured, Crescenzi said. The crash shut down County Road 44 for most of the day Monday.
Cortez was arrested for driving without a license and causing death; he is being held in the Lake County Jail on no bond.
