Ambulance in fatal collision

Jerold Dale Hager was a few blocks from dropping off his grandsons.

They had stopped to grab milkshakes at Arby's after a Boy Scouts meeting Monday night, and Hager was behind the wheel of his Ford pickup, heading west on Busch Boulevard.

Heading in the opposite direction was an ambulance owned by American Medical Response West Florida.

Authorities say ambulance driver Justin McKenzie hit the brakes and took evasive action when he realized traffic had stopped. But Unit 21 crossed the double yellow line and struck the Ford near Ola Avenue.

Hager, 64, had to be cut from the wreckage. The Temple Terrace man was transported to St. Joseph's Hospital and was pronounced dead Tuesday morning.

"He was a really great man," said his daughter, Beth Tarantola. "He was always, always there. He took care of everybody."

Tarantola's sons, Jamie, 13, and Joseph, 11, were taken to St. Joseph's with minor injuries.

"My little boys are doing all right - bumped and bruised, but ... all right," she said.

The ambulance crew, which included 28-year-old Ashley Prazza-Odom and 18-year-old Jasmine Alcantara, both of Tampa, had minor injuries.

McKenzie, 28, of Palm Harbor, received a careless driving ticket but was not expected to face criminal charges, police said. It does not appear either vehicle was speeding.

The ambulance crew tended to Hager and his grandsons until emergency crews arrived, authorities said.

An American Medical Response supervisor said the ambulance was responding to a call and did not have its lights and sirens activated, Tampa Fire Rescue Capt. Bill Wade said.

McKenzie has worked for the company about two years. The only points on his license came in 2000 when he was cited for driving 92 mph in a 65 mph zone in Taylor County, said Mario Tamargo, chief inspector for the Hillsborough County Public Transportation Commission.

In a written statement, Tom Diaz, general manager of American Medical Response West Florida, says: "As an organization dedicated to protecting and saving lives, we are sincerely saddened by this tragic death. Our thoughts are with the family at this time as well as our crew members."

Hager repaired diesel engine components for a living and volunteered for the Boy Scouts.

"We expected him one day to be 85 years old, puttering around and on the Boy Scout range," Tarantola said. "We kept waiting for him to retire because he was getting close."