Stolen Pickup Truck Crashes into Florida Ambulance Along Seven Mile Bridge

According to arrest records from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, a 37-year-old resident of the Florida Keys was apprehended Friday morning and charged with auto theft after he allegedly stole a man’s pickup truck and caused a head-on collision with an ambulance along the Seven Mile Bridge.

Preliminary incident reports from the responding officers with the Florida Highway Patrol as well as deputies with the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office indicate that 37-year-old Kenneth James Weber was driving a 2002 Lincoln Blackwood pickup truck at an erratically high speed in the southbound direction of the Seven Mile Bridge near mile marker 43.5. As the reckless driver continued his joyride to the approximate halfway point of the bridge, other motorists who were in the area told officers that Weber was dangerously weaving in and out of oncoming traffic in an attempt to pass other vehicles on the roadway.

This unsafe driving behavior finally caught up to Weber when he pulled the pickup truck into a northbound lane almost directly in front of a Florida Keys Ambulance Service vehicle that was carrying a 68-year-old injured passenger at the time. The 37-year-old man made a futile attempt to avoid an accident with the approaching ambulance by attempting to pull over onto the shoulder over the road, however, he instead crashed the pickup truck into a concrete barrier and then collided head-on with the emergency vehicle.

Monroe County medical teams and investigative authorities with the Florida Highway Patrol arrived at the scene of the accident within a matter of minutes and immediately transported the ambulance’s elderly passenger to Jackson South Medical Center where he was stabilized and remains in critical condition. It is unclear if the driver of the privately-owned ambulance received any injuries during the collision.

Kenneth James Weber was transported to Fishermen’s Community Hospital in Marathon where he was treated for his injuries and released later that day. Once officers with the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office were able to receive confirmation from the pickup truck’s owner, Weber’s boss, that his employee did not have permission to drive the vehicle, he was arrested and booked into the county jail without bond.

James O. Cunningham

Since 1977, personal injury lawyer James Cunningham has provided effective legal advocacy to people who are injured through the negligent actions of another person or entity throughout the Central Florida area. He fights to obtain recoveries for his clients’ physical and emotional pain and suffering and pursues his clients’ personal injury cases with a commitment to excellence and impeccable preparation.