Man Dies After Pickup Collides With Parked Police Vehicle

CLEARWATER, FL — A 71-year-old man has died after his pickup truck slammed into a parked Clearwater police vehicle on Tuesday evening, according to the Tampa Tribune. The police officer, who was making a routine traffic stop, was not hurt.

According to reports, the accident occurred just before 7 p.m. on southbound U.S. 19, south of State Road 590 and near Dew Street. The officer, whose name was not given, had pulled over a car on the side of the road. He was speaking to the driver of the pulled-over vehicle, when the pickup truck hit the officer's Chevy Tahoe.

The impact of the crash sent the police vehicle from the left emergency lane to right emergency lane, according to the Clearwater Police Department. A photo posted on the department's twitter page showed a heavily damaged police SUV.

The driver of the pickup truck was taken to Morton Plant Hospital as a trauma alert, and later died. As of Wednesday afternoon, the driver's name was not released while authorities were locating next of kin.

A portion of southbound U.S. 19 was closed for three hours after the accident.