Rescuers Spend 2 Hours Extricating Valrico Woman From Crash

BRANDON, FL — A 50-year-old Valrico woman was airlifted to Tampa General Hospital with serious injuries after being extricated from a crash on Interstate 75 Friday night.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, at 8:07 p.m., Michaela Allen, 16, of Valrico was driving a Ford Fusion north on I-75 south of Big Bend Road when she drifted from the inside lane to the center lane and then over corrected, striking the side of a Toyota Tacoma driven by Sondra Kelley-Tuten of Valrico.

The collision caused the Tacoma to spin out of control and land in a ditch where it overturned and hit a tree. The Ford was propelled to the outside shoulder into a ditch.

The crash closed the northbound lanes of I-75 for two hours as crews worked to extricate Kelly-Tuten from the overturned vehicle.

Allen and a passenger in her car were not injured. Allen was cited for careless driving.