By Olivia Lloyd
Merced Sun-Star (Merced, Calif.)
THONOTOSASSA, Fla. — A deputy driving home from his overnight shift veered into oncoming traffic and was killed in a nearly head-on crash with a tractor-trailer, Florida authorities said.
Darell Brown, a 40-year-old husband and father of five, had a “compassionate spirit,” Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said Sept. 19.
The detention deputy got off work at the jail about 7 a.m. that day and started driving home in his pickup truck on U.S. Route 301, Chronister said in a news conference.
At about 7:45 a.m., Brown crossed the center line into traffic going the opposite direction on the two-lane road, forcing a tractor-trailer driver to slam on his brakes, the sheriff’s office said.
The vehicles collided, and the tractor-trailer jackknifed, Chronister said.
Brown’s truck came to a stop about 100 yards north from where the tractor-trailer ended up, the sheriff said. Brown died on the scene in Thonotosassa, while the Orlando big rig driver was uninjured, according to Florida Highway Patrol.
The tractor-trailer driver tried his best to slow down, as shown by skid marks on the road, according to the sheriff.
“There’s no doubt in my mind he did everything he could,” Chronister said.
Brown, a nearly 10-year veteran of the sheriff’s office, was “well-liked” and “left a lasting impact on everyone fortunate enough to know him,” the sheriff said.
“Deputy Brown was more than just a colleague; he was a friend, a mentor, and a source of inspiration to many,” Chronister said in a news release.
Florida Highway Patrol is investigating. Both agencies said it’s unknown why Brown crossed into the other lane.
Thonotosassa is about a 15-mile drive northeast from Tampa.
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