St. Pete Man Seriously Injured in Tampa Interstate Crash

A 43-year-old St. Petersburg man is in serious condition at St. Joseph’s Hospital following a Thursday afternoon accident on Interstate 75 in Tampa.

The Florida Highway Patrol says Andre Whitehead was heading southbound on I-75 in the inside lane near mile marker No. 272 around 3 p.m. when he attempted to change lanes, failing to yield to an Audi driven by Warren Sisson, 77, of Venice. Whitehead’s truck collided with the left side of the Audi, an email from the patrol said. At this point, Whitehead over-corrected to the left, lost control and his truck overturned on its side.

The tanker was full of used vegetable oil that was intended to be converted for use into bio-diesel fuel, the patrol said.

Whitehead suffered serious injuries.

Sisson and his passenger, Margaret Sisson, 75, were uninjured despite the Audi rotating completely twice.

Hillsborough County Fire Rescue responded to the scene with a total of seven units and more than 25 rescue crew, Ronnie Rivera, spokesman for the agency said. Hazmat also reported to the scene.

Rivera said crews had to wait for hours for another tanker to arrive to transfer the cooking oil for transport.

The accident closed the southbound lanes of I-75 near Bruce B. Downs Boulevard until just after 9:30 p.m. Thursday.

Whitehead was charged with making an improper lane change.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Florida Highway Patrol