Cops: Wrong-Way Driver Ignored Road Closing

A 24-year-old Bradenton man is the latest person accused of driving the wrong-way on a Tampa Bay area roadway.

The latest incident unfolded Sunday morning around 2:07 a.m. as troopers from the Florida Highway Patrol and officers from the Tampa Police Department were investigating an unrelated crash on the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway’s eastbound, lower deck lanes.

The crash had closed the road to traffic, an email from highway patrol Sgt. Steve Gaskins stated.

Troopers say Carrington Carlyle Cox was in a 1999 Saturn sedan and failed to exit the road. He proceeded, the email stated, to go around the closure and ended up going westbound on the eastbound lanes.

Trooper Rachel Palfry was helping with the crash investigation when she was told about the wrong-way incident. Palfry, Gaskins wrote, quickly spotted the vehicle and stopped the driver.

Cox was ultimately arrested for DUI and was taken to the Hillsborough County Jail.

He refused to provide a breath sample, Gaskins wrote.

Photo Credit: Carrington Carlyle Cox/Hillsborough County Jail