Cops: Wrong-Way Driver Nearly Struck Tampa Police Officer

TAMPA, FL — A member of the Tampa Police Department’s DUI unit found himself face-to-face with a wrong-way driver early Sunday morning.

According to the department, the officer was heading home around 5:06 a.m. after finishing his shift. As he was heading northbound on Interstate 275 near Fowler Avenue, the officer realized a vehicle was heading southbound in his lane at a high rate of speed.

“Officer Van Treese took evasive actions, narrowly avoiding a collision while calling out the wrong-way driver over police radio,” the agency wrote in an email to media.

Officer Gregory Murphy happened to encounter the vehicle exiting the interstate in the wrong direction at Busch Boulevard and performed a traffic stop, the email said.

The driver, the agency noted, showed signs of impairment, prompting field sobriety exercises. The driver, identified as Aja Cancela, 34, was ultimately placed under arrest, charged with DUI.

Sunday’s near-miss came just days after Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Deputy John Kotfila Jr. was killed in a wrong-way driving crash on the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway.

Booking photo courtesy of the Hillsborough County Jail