FORT MYERS, Florida -- A Collier County sheriff's corrections officer on his way to work died Thursday morning in a three-vehicle crash on Interstate 75 near the Daniels Parkway exit in Lee County.
The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating the crash.
Cpl. Mark Lucente, 48, of Lehigh Acres was a veteran of the U.S. Army. He began his career with the sheriff’s office in August 1999 as a corrections deputy trainee.
He was promoted to deputy in December 1999 after finishing his training at the Southwest Florida Criminal Justice Academy. He was promoted to corporal and assigned to the Naples Jail center in 2001.
"This is a tragic and sudden loss of a dedicated public servant," Sheriff Kevin Rambosk said in a statement. "I extend my sympathy to his family, his friends and the members of our agency. I know the citizens of Collier County join CCSO as we mourn. Thank you for your prayers for our deputy and his family."
In honor of Lucente’s service, Rambosk has ordered that agency members cover their badges until further notice.
An FHP report on the crash said that Luis Juarbe, 52, also of Lehigh Acres was traveling south on I-75 in the right lane at a slow rate of speed for an unknown reason, approximately 1 mile south of Daniels Parkway.
Lucente was behind him in the same lane also driving slowly. A third vehicle, a truck tractor trailer driven by Bobby Ramsey, 52, of Orlando, was traveling in the same lane, at a distance behind Lucente.
Juarbe and Lucente's speeds are being investigated.
Ramsey swerved to the left to avoid a rear end collision with Lucente, however the front of the semi struck the rear of Lucente's Nissan Versa, pushing it into Juarbe's SUV.
The semi then sideswiped the SUV and came to rest blocking the two lanes closest to the median. Lucente's car came to rest straddling the far-right lane and paved shoulder.
Juarbe' was taken to Gulf Coast Hospital with minor injuries. Ramsey was not injured.
"Everything is under investigation," Lt. Greg Bueno, spokesman for the FHP, said. "We're still unraveling things."
The accident closed the southbound lanes for several hours while authorities investigated the crash.
Copyright 2016 Naples Daily News, Fla.
Tribune News Service
