Wrong-Way Driver Passes Trooper on I-275

A 39-year-old Tampa man faces DUI charges after a Florida Highway Patrol Trooper spotted him going the wrong way on Interstate 275.

The incident unfolded around 2:52 a.m. Wednesday when Trooper Dennis Rich heard a call about a wrong-way driver come over his radio. Rich was on routine patrol, monitoring southbound traffic on I-275 near Bearss Avenue when the call came in, an email from Sgt. Steve Gaskins stated.

The driver was heading northbound in the southbound lanes, according to the radio call, so Rich headed that way with his lights and siren activated.

“Near Busch Boulevard and upon cresting a rise in the roadway, Trooper Rich encountered the wrong way driver traveling in the inside lane,” the email stated.

The BMW sport utility vehicle actually passed by Rich, who then turned around and went after the driver.

Nicolas Murcia of Tampa was pulled over and “appeared and acted heavily intoxicated,” the email said.

Murcia failed field sobriety tests and was placed under arrest for DUI. He refused to provide a breath sample, however.

Wrong-way driving incidents have plagued the Tampa Bay area throughout the year. Eleven people have lost their lives so far in 2014 due to wrong-way crashes in the region.

Photo courtesy of the Florida Highway Patrol

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