A Pembroke Pines man driving a box truck loaded with potato chips on Interstate 95 Tuesday morning died after a tractor-trailer rear-ended him, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
The box-truck driver was identified as Samuel M. Stander, 57. Stander was an independent contractor for Wise Foods Inc., his wife Deborah said. The couple lived in Chapel Trail Estate Homes in Pembroke Pines.
A Rottweiler inside the tractor-trailer also died.
The impact from the 6 a.m. crash between Sample Road and Southwest 10th Street in Deerfield Beach caused both vehicles to veer into a concrete barrier wall, FHP said. The 1995 ISU box truck came to rest on its left side. The 1997 Kenworth tractor-trailer caught fire. The flames reached as high as 40 feet, said Battalion Chief Tom Ray of Deerfield Beach Fire Rescue.
The collision left a gaping hole in the concrete barrier on the right edge of the highway, said FHP Lt. Bill Ferrell.
The tractor-trailer's driver, Thomas Braswell, 35, of South Carolina, escaped along with his four-year-old son, Preston. But their Rottweiler was unable to escape.
The tractor-trailer was transporting plastic tableware from South Carolina to Miami, Ferrell said.
Police transported the box-truck driver to North Broward Medical Center's trauma center, where he died about 8 a.m.
While troopers and about 10 trucks from Deerfield Beach and Pompano Beach fire departments responded to the scene, I-95's southbound lanes were shut down for more than two hours between 10th Street and Sample Road in Deerfield, Lt. Ferrell said.
Herald staff writer Jennifer Lebovich contributed to this report.
Distributed by the Associated Press
