Update 6:33 p.m. Dec. 18: The Florida Highway Patrol has released information about the initial crash on State Road 54 this afternoon. According to a highway patrol report, a truck, driven by Terrance Spencer Hanley, 25, of Upper Marlboro, Md., was stopped at the intersection of Wiggins Drive and S.R. 54 around 2:25 p.m. today. When Hanley attempted to make an eastbound, left-hand turn onto S.R. 54, he moved at a higher rate of speed than was necessary. This, in turn, caused the truck and the trailer it was towing to overturn. A fuel line leak also occurred, the report stated. Pasco County Fire Rescue’s environmental team had to be called out to clear the roadway of hazards. 

Earlier:

The eastbound lanes of State Road 54 between U.S. 19 and Jupiter are closed this afternoon following two accidents that occurred in the area.

According to the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, a deputy was struck by a vehicle while working the scene of another accident around 3:30 p.m. today, Dec. 18. The deputy, whose name is not being released at this time, was taken to the Medical Center of Trinity with minor injuries to his left leg.

Pasco deputies were on the scene of an accident that involved vehicles on a transporter truck shifting and falling off when the deputy was struck. The sheriff’s office was providing traffic control for the Florida Highway Patrol when the deputy was hit by a vehicle moving at a slow speed, a media release said.

The highway patrol is conducting the investigation.

Stay with Patch for more details as they become available.

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