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October 12, 2007

Woonsocket man killed in crash on Fla. highway

A Rhode Island man was killed this morning in Florida when the four-door Mazda he was driving on Route 75 north struck the back of a dump truck, the police said.

A Florida Highway Patrol news release says Leonardo N. Austi Bracey, 25, of 614 East School St., Woonsocket, was heading north in the outside lane of the highway, "traveling much faster" than the dumptruck ahead of him, which was driven by Carlos Miguel Garcia Valdes, 31, of Naples, Fla. The dumptruck had just merged onto the highway from Alico Road.

The accident happened about 6:50 a.m., about a mile north of Alico Road.

For unknown reasons the victim's car struck the truck, the release states, and after the collision the car came to rest facing north in the highway's outside lane.

The truck's brakes were disabled by the collision, the police said, and it rolled to a stop facing north in the highway's outside lane. Valdes was not injured, the police said.

No witnesses were identified at the scene. The accident is still under investigation.

The victim was not wearing a seatbelt, the news release indicates.

The Florida Highway Patrol asked that anyone with information call the patrol at (239) 354-2377, extension 350.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Mike McKinney  at 6:53 PM | Permalink

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