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Lakeland Man Is 5th Fatality In I-4 Pileup

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By KEITH MORELLI, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 16, 2008

TAMPA - The 70-vehicle pileup on Interstate 4 in Polk County on Jan. 9 has claimed a fifth life, authorities said.

Adrian Moran Gomez, 30, of Lakeland died Sunday at Lakeland Regional Medical Center, Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Larry Coggins said.

The patrol wasn't notified about the death until Tuesday morning, he said.

Gomez was a passenger in an eastbound 1994 Plymouth that was involved in one of a series of crashes Jan. 9. Four people died at the scene, troopers said.

Eight members of the Gomez family were involved in the crash, said Ross Garcia, spokesman for William McBride, the Orlando lawyer representing the Honduran family.

Adrian Gomez was a father of four small children, Garcia said.

He and seven other members of the Gomez family were en route to a construction job in Kissimmee when the two minivans they rode in ran into the fog on I-4 near Polk City.

The road was blanketed with dense fog, and a brush fire north of the interstate was producing thick smoke.

At a news conference last week, McBride said he is exploring the legal rights of the family. He described how the family blamed smoke from the nearby fire, which was started by the state Jan. 8 as a controlled burn. The 10-acre fire jumped firebreaks and had scorched 400 acres by the time the pileup occurred at 5 a.m.

The Gomez family lives in Lakeland and mostly works construction jobs in Central Florida, Garcia said.

Most of them suffered minor injuries, scrapes and bruises. Both minivans were struck by a single tractor-trailer, Garcia said.

Two other members of the Gomez family were hospitalized, Garcia said. One broke a leg. The other has a broken sternum and "is still spitting up blood."

Both are recovering at home, Garcia said. A fund is being set up to help the family offset medical and funeral expenses, he said.

"One just doesn't have the money for a cast for his leg, and the other doesn't have money for an operation," Garcia said.

The family is focusing on funeral arrangements, he said.

Gomez's death was confirmed Tuesday morning as the patrol reopened I-4. It had been closed again for five hours, on the same stretch as the scene of the pileup.

Troopers had closed the road about 3 a.m. after smoke from the still-smoldering swamp fire shrouded the highway.

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760 or kmorelli@tampatrib.com.

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