PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Florida authorities have identified a truck driver who was killed in a collision with a Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) trooper’s car on Feb. 3.
The truck driver, Arsenio Mas, 55, of Homestead, Florida, died in the collision; FHP Trooper Zachary Fink was pronounced dead at an area hospital.
According to reports, Fink followed a reckless driver who made an illegal U-turn into the opposite direction of Interstate 95. The suspect initially got away and was chased by other troopers and deputies until he crashed into a tree and fled on foot. He was captured about five hours after the initial pursuit, following an extensive manhunt, authorities said.
A St. Lucie County deputy initially tried to stop the suspect because he was driving at twice the speed limit but disengaged several minutes later. Fink then picked up the pursuit, trying to stop the motorist out of concern he was endangering other drivers, said Col. Gary Howze, who heads the FHP.
After the suspect made an abrupt U-turn into the opposite direction of highway traffic, Fink followed, turning into the path of the tractor-trailer.
Mas died at the scene, and the trooper was airlifted to a hospital, where he died, the agency said.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said on social media that “our hearts go out to” the trooper’s family and the FHP. Fink, 26, was a three-year highway patrol veteran, starting in Orlando before transferring to his hometown in the Port St. Lucie area. He’s survived by a fiancee and his parents, Howze said.
WPTV reporter Joel Lopez interviewed Mas’ daughter, Yeisel Más Dominguez, who lives in Cuba.
She told Lopez the whole family is devastated.
“This accident has ended my life sincerely,” Dominguez said in Spanish. “It has traumatized me.”
Dominguez, 34, said her father moved to the United States when she was 13 for a better life, according to the WPTV report.
He had four children and a partner.
Born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and raised in East Texas, John Worthen returned to his home state to attend college in 1998 and decided to make his life in The Natural State. Worthen is a 20-year veteran of the journalism industry and has covered just about every topic there is. He has a passion for writing and telling stories. He has worked as a beat reporter and bureau chief for a statewide newspaper and as managing editor of a regional newspaper in Arkansas. Additionally, Worthen has been a prolific freelance journalist for two decades, and has been published in several travel magazines and on travel websites.
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