Teen Killed After Pickup Rolls Into Ditch On Krome Avenue
WEST BROWARD COUNTY (CBSMiami) –A pickup truck driving near N. Krome Avenue and Okeechobee with four teens inside crashed into a canal Thursday afternoon, killing one of them and sending another to the hospital.
The four door 2007 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck that ended up in the canal may have rolled over as significant damage was done to the roof of the truck.
"It's not what I was expecting when I woke up this morning," said Keith Jones, the owner of Mack's Fish Camp.
Jones was just walking on his family's farm when he saw something he couldn't ignore.
"That was the moment the accident happened. Saw the truck lose control and go into the side of the road, roll over," Jones told CBS4's Gio Benitez.
He says he jumped in his car and rushed to the accident scene. Four young men were trapped, gasping for air.
"I was in water up to my waist deep. Reached down in the water, reached through the window, I could grab the kids arm," said Jones.
Luckily, he said, there was an air pocket so they could breathe.
"I was yelling back and forth to them," said Jones.
That gave him time to grab a farm machine and help turn the truck over. Three of the young men, he says, could communicate, but one seemed unconscious.
"We got everybody out of the vehicle, including him," he said.
Jones performed CPR on the young man until paramedics arrived and rushed the teen to the hospital. Jones says if he hadn't seen the truck flip over, the four teens could have all choked on mud. Even when he was told one of the young men would not survive, he hoped for a miracle.
"I hope, I hope he's okay," he said.
That teen, identified as Nathan Northrup, 18, began to regain some color. Sadly, Northrup was airlifted to the hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
Another patient, Ricardo Vera, 17, was taken by ambulance, but was walking around shortly before being placed onto a backboard and placed in a neck brace.
The truck's driver, Vincent Terracciano, 18, and Alex Hanas, 18, were not injured and were questioned by police on the scene.
Some of the teens involved in the crash attend West Broward High School.
Broward Sheriff's Office spokesman Mike Jachles called the accident a tragedy.
"Some of these males recently graduated. This is the last day of school in Broward," Jachles said. "This is a tragedy on any given day. But it's even more so a tragedy to have something like this happen."
