15-year-old on scooter killed when SUV driver swerves to avoid dogs, Florida cops say
A 15-year-old boy riding his scooter to a friend’s house was killed when a driver swerved on the road to avoid hitting dogs, Florida officials said.
Just before 6 a.m. on Jan. 23, 15-year-old Auburndale High School student Yeriel Gonzalez hopped on his electric scooter to go over to a friend’s house before school, according to a news release from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
Yeriel was in the middle of the southbound lane of the road when a 29-year-old man on his way to work entered the northbound lane of the road driving a Dodge Durango, the sheriff’s office said.
The driver was behind another vehicle at an intersection, the sheriff’s office said, when he swerved into the southbound lane to “avoid some dogs that ran into the roadway.”
As he swerved into the lane, Yeriel collided with the front right side of the SUV, the sheriff’s office said.
Yeriel was declared dead at the scene, the sheriff’s office said, and the investigation is ongoing.
No charges against the driver have been announced as of Jan. 23.
Chaplains from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office met with the boy’s family and support is available for faculty, staff and students of the Polk County Public Schools through the sheriff’s office Safe Schools Division, according to the release.
“We join the Auburndale High community in mourning the loss of Yeriel Gonzalez. Yeriel was a sophomore at AHS and was well known, and liked, among the students and staff,” a spokesperson for Polk County Public Schools said in a statement to The Ledger. “He was regarded as a talented baseball player and a leader among his peers in the school’s ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) club. This is a heartbreaking tragedy for AHS and Polk County Public Schools. Our hearts go out to Yeriel’s family and friends.”
The crash occurred in Winter Haven, about 50 miles east of Tampa.
This story was originally published January 23, 2024 at 4:49 PM with the headline "15-year-old on scooter killed when SUV driver swerves to avoid dogs, Florida cops say."
