Florida teen is jailed after more than a year since fatal Alligator Alley crash, records show
More than a year after a teen driver’s Corvette slammed into the back of a box truck on Alligator Alley, catapulting the vehicle into a canal embankment and killing the driver, he is facing charges, court records show.
Jose Manuel Ruiz, 19, of Fort Myers, turned himself in at the Broward County Main Jail on Thursday and is facing two counts of reckless driving and one count of vehicular homicide, the Broward County Clerk of Court website showed. As of Friday, he still was in the jail on a $110,000 bond.
In May 2023, Ruiz was behind the wheel of his 2021 Chevrolet Corvette speeding down Alligator Alley’s east end near Broward County, a Florida Highway Patrol charging affidavit reads.
Just ahead, the unidentified victim was in a Chevrolet box truck at a toll plaza.
Troopers said Ruiz appeared to be distracted, did not slow down and only took evasive action just before slamming into the box truck.
“There was no evidence of [Ruiz] applying braking prior to the rear end collision,” the affidavit reads.
The collision shoved the box truck through a guard rail and over a concrete barrier wall before the truck overturned into a rock embankment near a canal.
The truck ignited and was quickly engulfed in flames. The driver was trapped inside and died.
Witnesses told highway troopers they thought Ruiz was driving above 90 mph and had a clear line of sight of the truck. According to a citation, Ruiz was driving at 116 mph before the crash.
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