Northbound traffic on Interstate 75 was moving slowly due to an unrelated vehicle fire near the Sun City Center exit when a serious crash occurred near the Hillsborough–Manatee County line.
On Monday, February 9, 2026 at approximately 4:30 p.m., a tractor-trailer initiated an illegal U-turn to travel southbound on I-75. The tractor-trailer entered the path of a Toyota Corolla driven by a 28-year-old man from Parrish. The Corolla struck the tractor-trailer.
The sedan’s driver sustained serious injuries and was transported to an area hospital. The driver of the tractor-trailer, identified as 45-year-old Julio Dones Rosa of Citrus Springs, was not injured.
The driver of the sedan later died from injuries suffered during the crash.
Florida Highway Patrol troopers arrested Dones Rosa on a charge of reckless driving involving serious injury. He was transported to the Hillsborough County Jail.
