Wrong-Way Driver Found Hiding In Ditch, Troopers Say

Hillsborough County, FL — A St. Petersburg man’s attempt to evade law enforcement after he allegedly drove the wrong way on Interstate 75, causing a crash with a tractor trailer, didn’t end as he planned, troopers say.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, Justin Garrett, 29, was brought into custody after troopers and the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office's helicopter crew found him hiding in a grassy ditch on Interstate 75 shortly after a crash with a tractor trailer.

The case against Garrett began to build around 3:30 a.m. Friday, June 10 when troopers received a report of a motorist traveling south in the northbound lanes of I-75 near the Hillsborough and Manatee County line. Another report came in shortly after about the same SUV hitting a tractor trailer and then fleeing.

As a trooper was deployed to check on the tractor trailer driver, others began looking for the small SUV callers had described. They found that 2004 Ford Explorer a short time later facing south in the northbound lanes. The SUV had suffered heavy front end damage, the agency wrote in a report.

Its owner, however, was nowhere to be found, the report said. Thanks to that helicopter and a ground search Garrett was located with little trouble, troopers say.

Garrett was brought into custody and booked into the Hillsborough County Jail on DUI and leaving the scene of a crash with property damage charges. He was also cited for driving the wrong way, the report noted. Garrett remained in the Hillsborough jail Friday morning in lieu of $750 bond.

The driver of the tractor trailer, who hasn’t been identified, did not suffer injuries, troopers reported.

Booking photo courtesy of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office

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