‘Drifter’ stole SUV in the Keys before dying in crash with a dump truck, sheriff says
A Panama City man died after police in the Keys say he stole a car Tuesday afternoon and recklessly drove north through the island chain for 30 miles before eventually driving into the path of an oncoming dump truck.
The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating the incident.
Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay said on a Keys radio show Wednesday that the incident started at one of his agency’s substations in the Middle Keys city of Marathon.
The man, Claude Edward Smith, whom Ramsay described as a “drifter,” was there to register as a convicted felon, but was agitated when he was told he had to register at the county jail.
Smith, 55, walked about 2 1/2 miles north and found a Cadillac Escalade SUV unlocked with the keys inside, and stole it, Ramsay said on the U.S. 1 Radio News Network.
“When we have a burglary or a theft, it’s not because someone hot-wired it, it’s because someone left the keys in the car,” Ramsay said.
According to the FHP report, people began calling 911 to report an aggressive driver at around mile marker 51 on U.S. 1.
Ramsay said Smith was speeding and passing cars in no-passing zones.
A sheriff’s deputy spotted the car approaching on Indian Key Fill, around mile marker 77, shortly before 3 p.m. and turned on his lights and siren to try to get the man to pull over. The Escalade continued speeding north.
The deputy did not chase the SUV because the sheriff’s office started a no-pursuit policy following the death of one of its deputies in 2010.
“We don’t chase cars through dangerous areas,” Ramsay told radio host Bill Becker.
At mile marker 80.6 in Islamorada, the driver of the Escalade was passing cars in the center turning lane and ended up in the southbound lane of the highway, according to the FHP report.
A dump truck was traveling around 45 mph toward the Cadillac. Ramsay said the SUV was driving more than 80 mph.
The driver of the stolen car tried to turn back into the the northbound lane, but it was too late. The dump truck slammed into the driver’s side of the car, killing Smith instantly, Ramsay said.
“It was a mess,” he said.
This story was originally published July 1, 2020 at 11:23 AM.
