Ocalan dies in early morning crash

[File photo by Bruce Ackerman]

A 25-year-old Ocala resident died as the result of an early morning crash on Monday (Dec. 22) involving three pickup trucks in northwest Marion County, the Florida Highway Patrol has reported.

According to an FHP press release, the crash occurred around 2:22 a.m. on U.S. Highway 27 just west of Northwest 90th Avenue Road. The gender of the person was not revealed in the release.

The victim’s pickup truck was traveling east on U.S. 27 following a “slower moving” pickup driven by a 63-year-old Williston man. As the victim approached the slower moving pickup truck, he “failed to slow and struck (the slower moving pickup),” in the left rear section, the press release stated.

After the collision, both pickup trucks rotated to the right and the victim’s vehicle overturned on the roadway. The victim was ejected from his vehicle and “came to rest within the eastbound right lane of US-27. A third pick-up truck was traveling east in the right lane and struck the ejected driver … who was laying in the roadway,” according to the release.

The victim, who was not wearing a seat belt, was pronounced deceased on the scene by Marion County Fire Rescue. The Williston man, who was wearing a seat belt, was transported to a hospital with serious injuries. The driver of the third pickup, a 44-year-old Anthony man, who was wearing a seat belt, was not injured, the press release indicated.

Preliminary data on the FHP Crash Dashboard at flhsmv.gov indicates 77 people have died in Marion County traffic crashes from Jan. 1 to Dec. 10 this year; 114 people died in traffic crashes in 2024.